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Camelot - what is your game?
You may have switched on your television to watch the Saturday night UK Lotto draw and thought the ball drawing machine Lancelot or Merlin had malfunctioned. Where have these extra 10 balls come from, you might have asked?
Well following on from the Irish Lotto changes, Camelot have tried something similar to the UK Lotto with the biggest changes in its 21 year history.
The reason for the change? In simple terms, they think bigger jackpots will make you buy more tickets.
So if you're someone who plays the lotto the traditional way (there are other ways to play) - then you'll be wondering how your chances of winning might have changed.
The simple fact is that the odds of winning the UK Lotto jackpot have got worse (much, much worse!) and you have now got much less chance to win when buying a ticket.
Reading the above changes sounds ok, right? Camelot have tried to spin this as 'exciting changes'. Well unfortunately if you dig a little deeper, the picture isn't so rosy.
You Match | Odds of Winning (before change) | Odds of Winning (after change) |
3 Numbers | 57/1 | 97/1 |
4 Numbers | 1033/1 | 2180/1 |
5 Numbers | 55,491/1 | 144,415/1 |
5 Numbers + Bonus | 2.3M/1 | 7.5M/1 |
6 Numbers (Jackpot!) | 14M/1 | 45M/1 |
And when you wrap everything up into one and ask the simple question: What are your chances of winning any prize overall?
Well Camelot are claiming that the overall odds of winning a prize have improved from 54/1 to 9/1. How can that be? Well above we mentioned that matching 2 balls will now win you a prize... so here is the little bit of smoke and mirrors from Camelot. What is this 'prize'? You get a lucky dip entry for the next draw!
So the Compare the Lotto honest answer is that your odds of winning any cash prize is now actually over 90/1 from 54/1 before.
Judging by the reaction on Camelot's Facebook page, there are some unhappy Lotto players out there considering their options.
We're continuing to see a massive surge in people betting on the Lotto - with the Irish Lotto the most popular option.
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