If you have ever bought a lottery ticket and watched the lottery show on television or checked your numbers the next day to see if you got lucky, you'll know the incredible pull the lottery can have on you.
Perhaps it isn't surprising then that there are so many websites online that deal with this subject and offer a lot more information on many aspects of the UK National Lottery. So whether you want a good site that will tell you what the latest winning numbers are, or you want to find out where the charitable part of the money you pay for your tickets goes, check out the following websites to see what you think of them.
The Official National Lottery website
No matter what you want to find out about the National Lottery, you should be able to get it here. This is the official site and as such contains a huge amount of data about recent draws and who was lucky enough to win a share of the jackpot for each one. You can also get the results for all the main lottery draws, including EuroMillions, Thunderball and Daily Play.
You can also buy your lottery tickets through the site if you open an account online, which is quick and easy to do. There is a range of instant win games you can take part in online as well, including some familiar titles such as Crazy Golf, Cluedo and Scrabble. Needless to say the site could get quite addictive if you try some of these games every time you visit to check the main draw results.
The news section is worth a look since any recent additions to the site will be mentioned here. You'll also be able to read stories of winners who have scooped a big prize by trying their hand at one of the online games. There is also a section which looks into the good causes helped by everyone who buys lottery tickets. A recent story revealed how a city school was able to transform its surroundings with a grant from the lottery funds.
And if you are hoping that the jackpot winners' luck will rub off on you, why not read about some of the people who have managed to hit the jackpot in recent weeks? These stories are always good to read, and they give an interesting insight into how some peoples' lives are changed by winning a huge amount of money.
All in all this is an outstanding site, as you would expect from the official site of the lottery. You can visit it by going to www.national-lottery.co.uk, but be warned - those instant play games look quite addictive!
Lottery.co.uk
This is a professional looking and very efficient site, which contains many more useful features than you may at first think. It also has a nice lottery themed appearance, with coloured balls representing the various parts of the menu that are listed down the left hand side of the page.
The results from all the main National Lottery draws are available to read on the relevant page, and you can view up to six months worth of past results – which is the length of time your ticket is valid for once you have bought it. Rollovers are easily indicated with a red R next to the appropriate set of results.
The stats page is well worth a look since it reveals the number of times each ball has appeared in the results, as well as other data which might help you to select the numbers on your next ticket. There is also a number generator for the most indecisive people among you, and a comprehensive information page that will answer most (if not all) of the questions you might have about playing the Lotto.
You will also find links to a vast number of articles on this page, which are well worth a look at if you want to know more about various aspects of playing the lottery. These go into a lot of depth and cover a vast range of subjects, and make for an interesting read if you are struggling with picking this week's numbers.
You can visit the site at www.lottery.co.uk – but expect to be there for some time, as it has plenty to offer.
Lottery.Merseyworld.com
If you need a site that presents the latest winning numbers for each of the main lottery draws in the UK every time you visit, then pay http://lottery.merseyworld.com a visit. You'll see them all displayed on the home page, and while the site has a more basic feel than some others included in this article, it is still worth a look because it has a number of intriguing pages included on it.
The ‘perms' page is a great way of guaranteeing yourself a win on the lottery if certain numbers are drawn. You simply enter the relevant information you want to include and hit the button to receive a list of the ticket combinations you need to buy. It's a good tool if you want some help in choosing particular number combinations.
There are also a number of other fascinating pages including the Numerical Analysis page, which gives you plenty of links to information regarding number combinations, the most popular balls drawn, and so on. If you believe in the power of keeping track of the numbers then this is the page for you.
The other page which is of particular interest as it helps reveal the size of this site (which is somewhat larger than you might think) is the one on background information. If there is something you need to know and you can't find it elsewhere it could well be linked to from this page.
All in all this is a great site which could put people off a little for its basic appearance, but which contains a wealth of information that could have you picking the winning numbers in a future draw – with any luck!
BBC.co.uk/lottery
If you live in the UK and you fancy a chance at being in the audience for one of the National Lottery live television shows, then you should definitely pay the BBC's website a visit.
The lottery pages are a part of the regular BBC website, but you will see details of the upcoming lottery show dates and times, together with who is presenting and guest starring on it. The draw results from each of the main lottery draws (six in all, including the EuroMillions draw) are shown on the page, and there is also a link through to the main National Lottery site if you need more information.
But the main reason for including this website is that you can apply for tickets to be in the audience for a lottery show. This is a great experience, and since the tickets are free it's a great excuse to go to London for a good night out. You are not guaranteed to get tickets but if you apply from time to time you might be lucky. And who knows, you might even see your numbers come up live in the studio.
To see the lottery pages of the BBC website, visit www.bbc.co.uk/lottery.
BigLotteryFund.org.uk
It's always good to see websites that give you information about the latest lottery draws and help you decide what numbers to play in future. But there is another important side to the National Lottery which sometimes gets forgotten, and that's the thousands of charities and good causes which receive money from a portion of the total revenues generated by all the lottery tickets bought in the UK.
One site that aims to tell you more about such causes is www.biglotteryfund.org.uk. This is split into a number of different sections allowing you to see how many people have benefited in your local area, as well as the latest ideas and funding proposals that are in the works.
There is also plenty of information that will be of use if you are thinking of applying for funding yourself, and there are numerous case studies and words of advice to help you if you decide you do want to find out about making changes in your local area. Watch out for the current programmes feature too, as this reveals the current funding plans that you can apply for.
It is an outstanding site and it reminds you that even if you aren't lucky enough to win the lottery this week, someone out there will be benefiting from a portion of the money you paid for your ticket. It's good to hear about successful funding from recent months as well as looking towards the future and the difference the Lottery can make.
LotteryFunding.org.uk
This is a similar website to the Big Lottery Fund site reviewed above, but it has several unique sections that make it well worth a look if you want to find out more about where your money goes.
First off there is a question and answer section which sheds some light on what you should do if you want to apply for funding. There is also a fascinating section which reveals where some of the billions of pounds of Lottery funding have gone in recent years.
There is also a comprehensive funding search feature that allows you to find the most appropriate body to which you should apply for funds if you have an idea or group that may benefit from receiving a lottery grant.
The www.lotteryfunding.org.uk website is relatively small compared to some sites but it is indispensable if you want to know more about how the charitable part of the cost of a lottery ticket is spent, and where it goes. Well worth a look.
LotteryCentral.co.uk
This might be a very blue site (you'll see what I mean when you take a look at it), but it's not disappointing in any way. They give you all the latest results right up front on the home page, and there is a small and easy to use menu on the left hand side of the page which leads you towards other pages of interest on the site.
You can also access more information about each draw by clicking on the relevant link on the home page, right near the winning numbers for each draw. This reveals how many people won each prize, and how much they walked away with.
The information section leads you to several useful sections of the site, including one which answers a few of the questions the site owners are often asked. But perhaps the most useful page on the entire site – apart from the updated winning numbers that is – is the one which goes into great detail on the various lottery related scams that are unfortunately doing the rounds via email nowadays. There is even a sample spoof email to help you distinguish them if or when you are unlucky enough to receive one (incidentally the best option with these is to delete them upon receipt).
There is also a comprehensive page giving you details on the history of the website, which has been in existence for well over a decade. As such it is not likely to be going anywhere soon, and is well worth bookmarking in your list of favourite lottery sites to revisit in the future. The URL is www.lotterycentral.co.uk.
National-Lottery.com
This site has a very similar web address to the official National Lottery site, but it is run by completely different people. It is a professional looking site which has plenty to offer however, and the red headings make it easy to navigate your way around the site.
You'll notice that information on several other lotteries is also included on the website, but there are links to the results for the UK National Lottery draws visible as soon as you arrive on the home page. Clicking on the results link takes you straight into a page giving you the latest results for the main lottery draws, including Lotto, Thunderball and EuroMillions. To see later results for each draw you simply have to click on the ‘later results' link next to each set of numbers.
The UK Lotto jackpot section is worth a look since it tells you about one of the latest jackpot winners of the UK Lotto draw. Seeing as these people generally win several million pounds it can make very interesting reading. The story forms part of the news section of the site, which gives a wide range of news items from lotteries elsewhere in the world on occasion as well, although it mainly concentrates on our own lottery.
The information and FAQs section is also very comprehensive for a site like this, and if you have any questions or queries you want answered you may well find them here. The other part of this site that makes it somewhat unique is the fact that it has a blog. For those who have more than a passing interest in the National Lottery, this makes fascinating reading as the writer goes into all kinds of areas that are interesting to read about. When you enter the blog section you'll see a teaser on each entry, and you will need to click on the link to get into the actual story itself.
All in all this is a worthwhile site and one that gives you all the information you need plus a handy helping of personal insight from the owner as well. You can visit the site at www.national-lottery.com.
AllLotto.co.uk
There are two things that will jump out at you when you first visit this site. The first one is that the latest lottery results for all six of the main lottery draws (including EuroMillions) are displayed on the home page. The second is that the site obviously makes its money from the various banners and adverts that are displayed on the page.
Putting that aside however, there are plenty of links in the menu on the left hand side of the page that make this site well worth a visit. Of the most interest here is the lottery archives section. You can search back through the results for any of the draws, going as far back as 2001. This is useful if you want to take a look at past results to try and help you in choosing your present numbers.
They also provide an interesting page on lucky numbers. These are generated by the site owners' own methods and are given as suggestions for upcoming draws – although of course if they did turn out to be lucky and hit the jackpot they might not win you a very big share if everyone else who visited the site chose them as well!
There is also an odds calculator that you can use with any lottery draw to see how good your odds of winning really are, and a numbers generator to help you choose your selections for future draws.
This is a good site all in all, and as we have seen there are several pages in particular on www.alllotto.co.uk that are of specific interest. Well worth a look.
Llednulb.Demon.co.uk
It might have a somewhat strange web address, but that doesn't make this site any less worth looking at. It's also received nearly three million visitors over the years, so there are plenty of people out there who clearly feel the same.
The menu is listed on the left hand side of the page, and if you click on the red ball next to each menu item you will see that there are several sections to some of the entries as well. For example the Lotto section lets you take a look at how frequently each ball number has been drawn, as well as a look at which numbers are the most likely to appear in future draws. Of course, every ball has an equal chance of appearing in each draw, but it's good to experiment and play around with your selections if you change them each week.
Incidentally data for how often each ball comes up in the results is available for all the UK lottery draws except for the Daily Play draw, so there is plenty of information here that can be used.
The site is also worth mentioning for the fact that it gives you a thirty day free trial on its own lottery software. Even after that expires you will find it very cheap to buy, and it does have a lot of features that will help you choose your numbers if you do need help in that way.
There is also a site map which gives you some idea of how big the site really is, and plenty of other useful links and information pages that will help you get the most out of playing the lottery. You can visit the site by going to www.llednulb.demon.co.uk.
LoveUk.org
This site is about winning the lottery – but in a very different way to winning the actual jackpot. It concentrates on bringing you the best news about various charities and concerns that have benefited from the proportion of money from ticket sales that goes to good causes. According to the information given on this website, this amounts to £25 MILLION a week.
One of the nicest things about this site is that as you go from page to page, different facts about the money that goes to charity flash up in the bottom right hand corner of the page. This helps to bring into sharp focus the amount of good that your money does when you buy a lottery ticket.
Clicking on the ‘what's happening' link in the menu bar running along the top of the page will give you more information on where the money actually goes. There is a gallery which gives you access to some fantastic pictures of various projects around the country which have been completed thanks to receiving an injection of lottery funding.
The ‘great days out' link is also worth clicking on, since it gives you the opportunity to download a document containing details of lots of places you can go that have received lottery funding at some point. From the large grants to the small, you might be surprised at how close by some of the projects actually are to where you live.
The main aim of www.loveuk.org is to make you realise that the lottery is about far more than just trying to win the jackpot. Someone wins every time you buy a ticket, since 28p in every pound goes to funding good causes all around the country, and it's certainly fascinating to see where some of that money goes. This is an excellent site with a great focus.
LotteryHelper.co.uk
This is a slightly different site, but it is well worth a look if you are thinking of organising a syndicate among people you know. That is basically the focus of the site as a whole – to make life easier for the people who run lottery syndicates. You can also join the syndicate run by the site owners if you wish.
There is a section which lists all the syndicates using the site, together with news of any big winnings they have netted. The latest results of the Lotto and Lotto Extra draws are also listed, and if you go into the sitemap you will see a direct link to the page which lists previous results from the past few weeks.
This is certainly a different lottery site from the majority of the others you can find online, but it is a godsend to anyone who knows what running a syndicate can be like. The fact that everything you need is supplied online for you (most of it for free) makes this a very useful site. You can also invite people to join your syndicate online if you wish, although there is a small monthly fee which needs to be paid in order for your details to be published on the site.
Most people use it to help them manage their existing syndicate, rather than wanting to find extra members online. And there is certainly a wide range of features to help you out. If you go into the help section and then click on the Managers Zone link, you will be able to see what the site can offer you before you decide whether or not to join.
All in all this is an excellent site which really fills a need, and if you have your own syndicate you should go directly to www.lotteryhelper.co.uk to see what it can offer you.
LotteryPost.Com/results/uk
This is a huge site which takes a worldwide view of lotteries and related stories, but it's worth a look for the British section alone. The URL www.lotterypost.com/results/uk takes you into the UK page, while the main LotteryPost.com URL takes you into the main page of the site as a whole, which incidentally has some interesting news stories featuring some huge wins from around the world!
The British page shows you the results from the latest lottery draws, and if you click on the blue links you can elect to see results from recent draws as well. The site also operates a paid membership which you would have to buy to see results from further back than just a few weeks, but you can see a lot more than this for free on the official National Lottery site anyway, so it's not worth a paid membership.
One section that is worth exploring is the one on Lottery Wheels, which help you to choose a certain amount of numbers and guarantee at least one win if three or more of the numbers you choose come up. The quick picks section is also worth a look if you are indecisive about which numbers to choose for the next draw.
In short, this site is a good one to pick if you want to know the latest UK lottery results, as well as information about what is going on in the world of lotteries in general.
InterLotto.com/uk
If you have a taste for foreign lotteries as well as our own National Lottery, then pay a visit to www.interlotto.com/uk. This is the UK themed page of the site, and it has a link to the UK results which go right back to when the lottery first started. That's quite a feat for any website, and it is the foremost reason why we have chosen this website to be among our top choices.
The results are split into years and months, so all you need to do is click on the appropriate month in the year you need and you will get a complete set of Lottery results for every main draw that occurred that month. The total amount of prize money that was on offer is also displayed.
There is also a link in the menu on the left hand side which takes you into the EuroMillions section of the site, and similarly once you have clicked on that you can select the complete EuroMillions results screen from the next page. This is laid out in the same way as the main UK lottery draw results are.
If you like analysing the past results to try and come up with a strategy for picking the winning numbers in future, this is definitely the site to bookmark for access to all the data you need.
TheBigBigLotto.com
Dusky pink is the interesting colour of choice for this website, which as a result looks completely different from any others. There is one feature that really makes this site stand out, and that is the fact that there is a comprehensive results section included.
The site is aimed at people who want to buy tickets to participate in lotteries in other countries. As such you can access results from the most popular lotteries all over the world. For the UK Lotto draw simply click on that option and you can see the latest fifteen or so weeks of results. You will also notice that you can sign up for their newsletter, which enables you to get the latest results emailed to you once they have been drawn.
If you have a website in a related area you will no doubt be interested in the fact that you can get an XML feed of the latest UK Lotto results displayed on your site. You'll find all the information you need at www.thebigbiglotto.com.
LotteryGoodCauses.org.uk
This is another website that has the power to make you feel good even when you end up holding a losing lottery ticket!
That's because it reveals how the charitable portion of your ticket goes to help the people who really need to come up trumps on the lottery. This is the best part of what the lottery really stands for; we all love to see big winners but in the end some of the biggest winners are those who have been able to change their local areas for the better thanks to a lottery donation.
The most fascinating part of this website is the section on Lottery Stories. This brings up a map of the UK which you can hover your mouse over to access the area you live in (or any other area of interest). Clicking on a county brings up the projects in that area which have been helped by lottery funding in some way.
You can then view any of the projects to find out more about them – and you might be surprised by how close by some of them are. The website can be found at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk and it is an outstanding example of how we are all helping to make our surroundings that bit better by continuing to play the lottery.
Lottery.Uk.Msn.Com
The National Lottery pages on the MSN website are worth a look if you like to cut right to the chase and find the information which matters – namely the results!
The latest sets of results for both the UK Lotto and the EuroMillions draws are shown on the main page, along with links that allow you to enter your numbers and pay for your ticket for the next draw.
The tabs at the top of the page give you a number of other options too, and if you click on the ‘all results' option you will see the results for all the UK draws, including Daily Play and the Thunderball draws. The page which allows you to buy your lottery tickets also reveals some other teasing bits of information that you can click on to find out more.
But the best part of the whole section of http://lottery.uk.msn.com is the way you get the site to choose your numbers for you. Whether it is popping toast, picking cheese (yes really) or our personal favourite, bashing the escaped lottery balls, this is the best way you will find to pick your next batch of numbers!
We dare you to try it only once…
LottoStrategies.com
If you need a website that gives you statistical analysis and countless ways to interpret how the balls are appearing in each draw, then you need to visit www.lottostrategies.com now.
This is by far the most comprehensive site we have seen on this subject, and as you will see by the long menu bar down the left hand side of the screen, there is plenty here to keep you occupied crunching those numbers for hours on end.
Take a look at Smart Pick to begin with. You might think at first glance that it only deals with American lotteries, but scroll down through the first box and you will soon see the United Kingdom appear as an option. Click on that and you will see the six main draws appear. Select the one you need and press the submit button to receive lists of the six numbers that are overdue for an appearance, the six that appear most often, and the six that appear least often. It doesn't guarantee a win of course, but it can be a great way to help you pick your numbers!
There are also options to analyse game data from months or years in the past, and a big section on the benefits of using wheeling methods to pick your tickets. All in all, this website does exactly what the name of the URL says it does – it gives you the best lottery strategies and analysis available online today.
Lottery.Culture.Gov.Uk
This is worth a mention since it is perhaps the definitive site to go to if you want to find out about the lottery money that is being distributed in your local area. It offers a very comprehensive search facility and unlike some other sites it doesn't just contain details of those projects that have been successful in their bid for some lottery cash. It also gives you details on how to apply for a grant yourself if you should wish to do so.
The pre-defined searches give you a quick glance at each area and the amounts that they have received in total so far; these are broken down into areas so you can get a good idea of where the money is going.
This is one of the best sites to visit if you want to know how your area ranks overall in the lottery good causes department. Visit www.lottery.culture.gov.uk for more details.
Natlotcomm.gov.uk
This is an outstanding website that features plenty of information about all aspects of the National Lottery. Of particular interest is a feature on the amount of scam emails doing the rounds at present, telling people they have won the lottery. This feature can be found in the ‘information for players' section, and is well worth reading to ensure you don't get caught out by one of these emails.
The site also tells you more about what the National Lottery Commission (hence the website address) actually does, as well as going into the background of the lottery in more detail. There is also a timeline which shows you how the lottery has developed since its inception way back in 1993 – a full year before the first draw took place.
You can also check out a whole array of facts concerning the lottery – including the fact that over £20 BILLION has been donated to good causes throughout the UK in the fourteen years since that first draw took place.
If all that has whetted your appetite to find out more, you should visit http://www.natlotcomm.gov.uk to read more.
Grant-Tracker.org
This is another site dedicated to the 28p in every pound that goes into the pot for good causes, but this one differs from the others in that it gives a lot more information on how to fundraise in other ways as well.
There are news items which highlight those organisations that have succeeded in getting lottery funding, and the Grant Makers page contains plenty of information on the National Lottery specifically. The page also links into other lottery related articles you may find of interest.
If you want to get funding for a local project from the National Lottery, then www.grant-tracker.org is a good place to start.
UKLotteryLive.com
This website certainly isn't lacking in the colour stakes, as you'll see when you arrive on the home page at www.uklotterylive.com.
This site is a good source for information, but make sure you buy your tickets via the official National Lottery site as normal. The latest draw results are displayed front and centre on the home page, and there are several links that are worth taking a look at too. Clicking on the results tab at the top of the page will reveal the last month's worth of results for the main lottery draw in the UK, but there is more to this site than reading the results from previous draws.
On the home page you can access lottery stories about people who have been lucky enough to scoop the jackpot in one of the most recent lottery draws. There are normally around five stories on this page and they do make for interesting reading, as they show how people's lives can change when they do get lucky enough to win.
Worth bookmarking if you like to read about the people who do strike it lucky!
CamelotGroup.Co.Uk
What better place to go for lottery information than to the website of the organisation that is responsible for running it in the UK?
The Camelot Group has run the National Lottery since the very beginning, and as such it knows an awful lot about how it all works, as is indicated by the home page of their website. There are several PDF documents you can download and read at your leisure, as well as a range of stories about recent winners of the UK Lotto draw. More information about Camelot is also included on the site.
The press releases in particular are worth looking at since they cover all kinds of subjects related to the National Lottery, from winners to how it is advertised. All in all, this is a great site and well worth checking out at www.camelotgroup.co.uk.
BritishInformation.Com/lottery
This is a larger site which nonetheless has a large section dedicated to the National Lottery. You can link directly into the official website to buy tickets if you wish, but by checking out the links on the left hand side of the page you can also see lots of different pages to go into for more information.
You can check previous results and also access a range of articles about the lottery which make for interesting reading. One which is particularly fascinating concerns the history of the lottery in this country, and how it has developed from its early days to the huge national institution it is now.
You can also use the search facility to find more precise information on whatever aspect of the lottery you are interested in, giving you quick and easy access to just what you need.
As part of a larger site, the lottery section seems like a large site on its own, and it is certainly worth checking out www.britishinformation.com/lottery to find out more.
As you can see there is a wide variety of websites that deal with the National Lottery in some way. The ones we have reviewed here are the best of the bunch when it comes to giving information and advice on everything to do with the lottery, and while some of them also concentrate on other lotteries around the world, it is clear that the UK lottery does attract plenty of attention.
So whether you buy one ticket each week or several, and whether you are part of a larger syndicate or simply buy a Lucky Dip for yourself each week, perhaps checking out some of the above sites will help you get the edge over the competition and bring you one step closer to that dream jackpot.
Good luck!