Understanding the National Lottery
Run by the Camelot group, who were granted the licence to operate first in 1994, then in 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery is the biggest and most popular lottery in the United Kingdom, and one of the most popular forms of gambling available in the UK. In 2002, amid falling sales and popularity, the National Lottery brand was completely revamped, with the main lottery games being renamed to Lotto. Despite this name-change and the hype and promotion that surrounded it, Lotto is still widely referred to by the public as The National Lottery.
How Does it Work?
The lottery game is simple - a player buys a ticket either on-line, via Sky Active, Text on their mobile phone or at a special terminal in a shop in person. This ticket gives the player the option to choose 6 numbers from 1 to 49, which makes one line and one entry into the lottery. The player can either choose their numbers themselves, or choose a "lucky dip" option to have the lottery machine choose it for them.
Once the player has chosen their 6 numbers for a line, or decided to do more than one line with another set of 6 numbers, they take it to the till at the shop and pay the £1 per line entry fee. Then, the till should print out a copy of the players ticket, that will have the day of the draw printed upon it, the 6 numbers chosen and a bar code, as well as on the back instructions of what to do if the ticket is a winner.
If purchasing a ticket on-line, the player can buy tickets for up and coming draws too by clicking "Choose Draws" and for a number of weeks specifically ahead of time by clicking "Choose Number of Weeks". A Player can also exceed the usual limit of 7 lines per ticket on-line, and play up to 35 lines by selecting "add more lines". Once the on-line payslip has been completed, the player clicks the "Play Now" button, and will be asked to create a National Lottery Account, or to sign into an existing National Lottery Account and pay securely by debit or credit card. The ticket will be shown safely in the account screen of the player, with all the players' details. A bonus of buying a ticket on-line is that the National Lottery will send you an e-mail in the event that you win.
The Lotto Draw
Every Saturday night the main National Lottery numbers are drawn. These are 6 numbers from 1 to 49 that are randomly selected by special lottery machines. There are twelve of these large devices, which resemble a washing machine. They are all named after the characters in the King Arthur stories, as well as precious stones, and include Vyvyan, Lancelot, Garnet, Merlin, Arthur, Galahad, Amethyst, Moonstone,Topaz, Opal, Pearl and Sapphire. There are also 8 separate sets of balls that are used for the machines that are selected.
Who Can Play?
Residents of the United Kingdom may buy a ticket to play the National Lottery, as well as anyone who is part of a syndicate, as long as the manager of the syndicate currently lives in the United Kingdom.
The National Lottery is very strict that players must be 16 or older, and are known to heavily monitor it's retailers to ensure that they abide by this.
How is the Prize Money Calculated?
Around 50% of all the money collected by the National Lottery in ticket sales is designated as prize money, with the rest comprising of 28% for the lottery good causes, 12% for lottery duty paid to the government, 5% awarded as sales commission to lottery retailers, 4.5% to cover the operating costs of the Lottery and a 0.5% share as profits for Camelot, who runs the National Lottery.
What Happens to Unclaimed Winnings?
All winning tickets from the National Lottery must be claimed within a 180 day period from the date of the draw. If the prize is not claimed by this time, it is distributed throughout the National Lottery's Good Causes fund.
Further Lottery Numbers Information
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