To think the Lottery isn't worth playing since the rules were changed?

[aspielady]

There used to be a 14 million to 1 chance of winning, but since they increased the pool of numbers to 59 it's now 1 in 45 million. I was already ticked off after they increased the ticket price to £2. I'm wondering if I should ditch it completely and save £4 a week. It's £6 a week if you are also playing Euromillions. Anyone here still playing after the changes?

I stopped playing ages ago, I switched to the health lottery. It has a smaller jackpot but I don't think I'd like to win millions, I'd like just enough to pay off the mortgage. My friend recently got 5 numbers on the lotto and got a measley £74! years ago that would've been a few thousand pounds.

I agree - however, my partner bought me a ticket on Wednesday, somehow won £25. I usually only do Euromillions during special occasions - Xmas or a huge roll-over. The £75 for 5 numbers is a joke, I won a similar amount for 4 numbers a few years ago.

Save up your weekly £4s, and buy premium bonds instead.

Each premium bond is a lottery ticket that can be reused over and over, for as long as you like, so it's both more cost-effective and better for the environment.

When you no longer want it, you can get your money back.

I'm going to stop playing. I win nothing but lucky dips these days.
My dad won 40k on the football pools a few years ago, I didn't realise it still existed tbh.

It was never worth playing.
I also use premium bonds.
The money gets entered into a draw every month.
The effective return is 1.4% tax free
You have the chance at £1m every month
you can always draw the money back out to spend another day.

I only plat euro lottery now. Even dd suggested we play the nhs lottery instead

I hadn't realised the odds were so low. I knew they were bad at 14m to one but they are so much worse now. The thing is that for most people it is the only way out of a trap - and that hope drives them, (I include myself in this as I am a regular player). I am not going to earn, or inherit or marry enough to be able to get out of the trap I'm in. So I take a chance and it allows me to dream.

I struggle with reality; being squeezed out by people with more power and money, and I suppose that for the time between buying and checking my ticket, I can kid myself that it won't always be like that.

I will have to stop though as even I can see that it is a compete waste of money and it isn't a healthy way to live.

I might change to the health lottery, what days does that run?

You can pay a little into the premium bonds every month by standing order
that money is saved
and gives you chance of winning every single month
www.nsandi.com/premium-bonds#buying-more-bonds

I know people who spent around 10 pounds per week on the lottery. These people are not well off and that 10 pounds could go a long way.

If i am in the shop and i remember i might buy a health lottery ticket. I think the health lottery in tues and fri. Could be wrong though.

Another bump for premium bonds last year I received x8 £25 cheques across the year and this year I have had x3 £25 cheques. One day I will get one with a few more 000's

I'm another one who goes with premium bonds rather than playing the lottery. Don't you have a higher chance of dying before the next draw than you do of winning?

That said, I do pay £2 a month into the syndicate at work.

I stopped buying it when they increased the price. It would be interesting to see what their figures are like now, the lottery is a fools game now.

I won't play after this happened in my area recently.

A ticket won in my area on the raffle numbers but due to an error by national lottery they gave the wrong raffle details out for people to check their numbers online.

Anyway the mistake was realised and the correct raffle numbers were shown online but it was too late as whoever would have won would have checked against the wrong numbers and thrown the ticket away.

National lottery have done an appeal on Facebook in my area weeks after the mistake telling people to check their ticket as they are a millionaire but they are refusing to name the exact place or town where the ticket was bought so people can jog their memories or the shop can trace cctv to track who bought the ticket.

Lots of people including myself are annoyed that some poor bugger actually won but due to a cock up by the national lottery they checked the wrong numbers.
They are also annoyed that the lottery took a while to do an appeal where most people would have chucked their tickets and they aren't doing their best to track the person down.

No one has come forward yet and on Facebook it was requested that the money go to good causes in the area the ticket was bought but national lottery refusing and saying the money goes into good causes but not specifically for the area the ticket was bought where the lottery has deprived someone of winning

I stopped playing when the increased it to £2 per ticket.

As for Premium Bonds, a great aunt bought some for myself, my sister and our cousin 40 years ago. I'm the only one to have won in that time, and that was £50 just the once.

It's just a tax on the stupid.

I could see the point if there were 500 prizes of 100k instead of 1 prize of 50 million.

whatser
How much money do you have in the bonds?
You need to have over £100 to have any realistic chance of a prixe in any five year period.
I aim for a prize every few months.

How do premium bonds work?

That sounds like something I should be doing.

I stopped playing the Lottery when they gave £12.5 million to the Churchill family.

www.independent.co.uk/news/lottery-funds-16312m-churchill-sale-1617191.html