The UK National Lottery recently announced ticket sales dropped by 2 million after lottery management company Camelot made changes to the Lotto in October. The changes included increasing the number of balls from 49 to 59, which caused the chances of winning the jackpot to fall to one in 45 million from the previous one in 14 million. In addition, now the jackpot can keep growing instead of being split up after four rollovers. Also, a “Millionaire Raffle” was added, guaranteeing at least one millionaire per draw, and a free Lucky Dip ticket for players who match two numbers.
When the changes were made, Camelot officials said that the chances of winning at least $1.25 million had improved and that the Lucky Dip tickets would create an extra 1.8 million weekly winners. But independent statisticians disagreed, stating now it is much more difficult to win the big jackpot.
Camelot officials said between April and September, the lottery earned $4.21 billion from ticket sales, compared to $4.5 billion in the same period last year. In a statement, they said, “With the current climate of economic uncertainty and signs that consumers are being more cautious with their spending, we expect the next six months to be similarly challenging.” That will translate into $115 million less given to charity.
Also between April and September, 183 players became lottery millionaires, bringing the total paid out to winners to $76 billion.
Camelot Chief Executive Officer Andy Duncan said, “Despite the challenges we’ve faced over the last six months, our performance over the half-year still represents one of our best since the National Lottery’s launch in 1994, and returning over $3.36 billion to Good Causes and players in just six months is no small achievement.”
