About the National Lottery UK

Many British gamblers have probably purchased National Lottery tickets at least once. However, there is much more to the National Lottery than just the main Lotto draw. In fact, the vast majority of popular UK lottery games are run by the National Lottery, which is overseen by Camelot UK Lotteries Limited and licensed by the Gambling Commission (UKGC).

As with online casinos, the minimum age to play the UK lottery and buy lottery tickets is 18. If you’re lucky enough to win a cash prize, you’ll receive it in one lump sum, as opposed to an annuity or in instalment payments like in the US.

How to play Lotto

Britain’s most popular lottery game first launched in 1994 as the UK National Lottery, but was rebranded as Lotto in 2002. When Brits refer to ‘the National Lottery’, they likely mean Lotto. Lotto draws take place every Wednesday and Saturday at 8pm.

To play the Lotto UK lottery, you need to choose a line of six numbers from 1 to 59, or you can opt for a Lucky Dip, which will provide you with six numbers at random. Lottery tickets cost £2 per line and can have up to seven lines per slip, while you can purchase as many as 10 slips at a time.

You can buy lottery tickets at local retailers or from the official website or National Lottery app if you want to play the lottery online. Lotto tickets are sold every day of the week, but you’ll need to buy your ticket before 7:30pm on the night of the draw.

To win the main UK lottery jackpot, you must match all six numbers in a line. Lotto jackpots are seeded at £2.5 million for the Wednesday draw and £5 million on Saturday. If there is more than one winner, the prize is shared, and if no one wins, the prize rolls over until the next draw. If there’s still no winner after five successive draws, the prize is split among the players who matched the most numbers.

Here’s a breakdown of how much you can win playing Lotto:

How to play EuroMillions

EuroMillions offers the biggest prizes out of all UK lottery games. Given that it is played across the UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland, the prizes can be astronomical. The biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot was £206 million in August 2023.

EuroMillions draws take place every Tuesday and Friday night at 8:45pm. EuroMillions lottery tickets cost £2.50 per line, and as with Lotto, you can play seven lines on a single slip and purchase up to 10 slips at once. British players can purchase tickets through the National Lottery app or website and at retailers across the UK until 7:30pm on the night of the draw.

To play, you need to select five main numbers between one and 50, as well as two lucky star numbers between one and 12. If you prefer, you can opt for a Lucky Dip, which will randomly make your selections. When you purchase a EuroMillions ticket, you’ll also be entered into the UK Millionaire Maker draw, which awards four £1 million prizes each week.

To win the EuroMillions jackpot, you need to match all five numbers and the two lucky star numbers. Here’s the full list of available prizes:

How to play Thunderball

Thunderball is a UK lottery game that offers the chance to win up to £500,000 with lottery tickets starting at just £1. Thunderball draws take place every Tuesday and Friday at 8pm, and Wednesday and Saturday at 8:15pm.

To play, you must choose five numbers between one and 39, as well as a Thunderball number between one to 14, with Lucky Dip options available. As with other lottery games offered by the National Lottery, you can buy up to 10 slips with up to seven lines on a slip per draw, either online or at local retailers.

To win the top £500,000 prize, you need to match all five main numbers, plus the Thunderball number. Here’s all the ways you can win when you play Thunderball:

How to play HotPicks

If picking and matching six UK lottery numbers seems like too much of a long shot, you’ll want to play the lottery game HotPicks, which gives you a great deal of flexibility. When you play HotPicks, you must pick numbers from one to 59, but get to decide if you want to play anything from all five numbers to just one. Regardless of how many numbers you opt for, the cost is just £1 per line.

Just like the main Lotto game, HotPicks draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday, just before the Lotto draw at 7:45pm. The jackpot is £350,000, but it offers bigger prizes compared to Lotto for matching four numbers or fewer.

Here is how much you can win playing HotPicks:

How to play the Health Lottery

The Health Lottery is a UK lottery that launched in October 2011 to help raise funds for various health causes. While it isn’t a national lottery, it operates on behalf of 12 local society lotteries across the country. Each week a different regional society receives the funds, with 20% of the proceeds going to local health-related causes.

Health Lottery draws are held daily from Tuesday to Saturday every week and cost £1 to enter. You must select five numbers ranging from one to 50 or purchase a ‘quick pick’ lottery ticket of randomly selected numbers. The standard top prize available is £25,000, but on Wednesdays and Saturdays a Free Prize Superdraw is also held offering the chance to win £100,000.

The full breakdown of prizes in the Health Lottery is below:

How to play the Postcode Lottery

The People’s Postcode Lottery is a subscription UK lottery game that raises money for charity. For £10 per month, you’re entered into 10 draws, from which you can win cash prizes, dream holidays, luxury cars and more. You can buy tickets by phone or online.

As the name suggests, the Postcode Lottery draws postcodes for prizes. When you purchase your subscription, you’re issued a ticket based on your postcode. Every Saturday £1 million is shared by the winning postcode, every Sunday every ticket in the winning postcode gets £30,000, and every Monday to Friday every ticket in the 20 winning postcodes gets £1,000.

Conclusion: How to Play UK Lotteries

As you can see, playing the lottery in the UK is popular in part due to the sheer number of different UK lottery games available. Entering is simple, and you can even get a Lucky Dip to pick the numbers on your lottery ticket for you.

While the odds of winning the lottery are certainly high, there are few gambling options available to Brits that offer such large prizes and multiple ways to win in every draw. Best of all, proceeds from the National Lottery are used to fund the arts, sports, health groups, education and various charitable causes.