Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the UK national lottery have lost the bloody plot.

85 replies

Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 18:20

It used to be in UK that the odds were 1 in 14 million which were, by lotto standards, not too bad.

Then they added the extra numbers a few years ago which made it almost 4 times harder to win at 1 in 45 million. Initially they said it was to boost jackpots which I was a bit meh about but I forgave them on the principle that they introduced the guaranteed million quid on each draw which was along with the price of the ticket.

At the weekend dh bought me a lotto ticket and it appears they have went and removed the raffle whilst keeping the bad odds. AIBU to think they knew all along the raffle million pound would be removed but they introduced it to compensate for the odds getting so bad and remove it when the public forgot?

I know the euro millions odds are bad too but in fairness they still do the raffle if a million quid and it serves all of Europe so the odds were never going to be great but aibu to think the uk national bog standard lottery is now a piece of shit?

OP posts:
BarbaraofSeville · 16/08/2021 19:25

@movingadviceneeded

I went to a wedding where guests were given £1 scratch cards as favours.

Altogether £50 was won, 130 guests.

All a swizz!!

How is that a swizz? That's probably bang on for the expected prize value from that spend, within statistical variations, plus you have the good causes donations and the cost of printing and distributing the cards and profit for the company.

They could have given everyone a £1 trinket and 90% of them would have gone in the bin.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:26

''Charities exist because there isn't enough money for the government to fund them. Besides, there are a huge number which wouldn't qualify anyway, things like wildlife charities, sports clubs, support groups and so on.

Would you prefer it if the government raised taxes to pay for all of these things instead?''

no I'd prefer if the govt stopped wasting money on the royal family and pointless other things such as their own overpaid salaries and pensions and used that money to pay for the things you say they ''can't afford.''

OP posts:
Treacletreacle · 16/08/2021 19:26

When I worked in a supermarket many years ago I remember the lottery rep coming in with some new scratch cards as she took them out her bag she checked the serial numbers on the back then told me which pack to use first, her words "that pack has more winners in it" I used to serve many regular customers who would spend a fortune trying to win that big one. It really did put me off.

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:28

''The lottery changed a few years ago now. You now get a million for 5 and the bonus, instead of in the raffle.''

which means in effect there will be many draws where nobody wins that as statistically it was easier to win in the raffle.

OP posts:
Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:29

''When I worked in a supermarket many years ago I remember the lottery rep coming in with some new scratch cards as she took them out her bag she checked the serial numbers on the back then told me which pack to use first, her words "that pack has more winners in it"''

why did it matter in what order they were sold?

OP posts:
Unsure33 · 16/08/2021 19:48

@mintylovely

its not a tax if you have a choice of whether to buy a ticket . That's a ridiculous analogy

DaisyDozyDee · 16/08/2021 19:48

As a family, we’ve indirectly had a lot of benefit from lottery funding. I buy a ticket every week, but I think I’d prefer to be able to donate that money direct to the fund for Olympic sports, museums, parks and school and skip the pretence that I’m ever going to win.

TonTonMacoute · 16/08/2021 19:52

Now in the way of Lottery men do also tax themselves in the general, though out of hopes of Advantage in particular: A Lottery therefore is properly a Tax upon unfortunate self-conceited fools

That was written in the 17th century!

Original poster
Balgoresboy · 16/08/2021 19:55

''A Lottery therefore is properly a Tax upon unfortunate self-conceited fools''

does this also apply to the winners of the jackpots?

OP posts:
OnlyFoolsnMothers · 16/08/2021 19:57

Why anyone would play national lotto over the euro millions is beyond me:
2 quid to possibly win 1 mil
2 quid to possibly win 30mil
Both odds shite!

HerculesMulligan · 16/08/2021 20:06

I co-authored a book on the legislation that set up the National Lottery and went to lots of conferences about it afterwards. The lottery spend is predominantly in poor areas, the lottery grants are disproportionately given to affluent areas (supplementing existing resources, middle-class applicants with experience of making grant applications etc).

I don't ever play, fwiw.

Treacletreacle · 16/08/2021 20:09

She meant they put more prizes in the first packs on any new game scratchcards so the regular buyers would think they were a good buy and get hooked on them. I had customers who would spend £10 or £20 in one go sometimes more and do that daily.

DotBall · 16/08/2021 20:10

A colleague calls it a tax on the poor

As @Unsure33 said, at least it’s a tax people have a choice about. It is sad though, standing in a queue in the Co Op watching an elderly man buy £20 of scratch cards. His money, his choice, his pleasure, but I couldn’t help thinking “What a waste.”

jasjas1973 · 16/08/2021 20:15

Charities exist because there isn't enough money for the government to fund them. Besides, there are a huge number which wouldn't qualify anyway, things like wildlife charities, sports clubs, support groups and so on

Would you prefer it if the government raised taxes to pay for all of these things instead?

Well yes actually, at least the money would go direct and not to share holders and director salaries of both the lottery and the charities.

Or as one German finance minister once (reportedly) said "Charity is a failure of the state to provide for its vulnerable"

MinkeDinkie · 16/08/2021 20:17

Nevermind the odds, I decided it was a con when they put the ticket price up to £2. I'd occasionally get a ticket on a whim before that. At £2 it felt like daylight robbery! Grin

venusandmars · 16/08/2021 20:20

There have been reported increases in prizes. However the prizes I have won are free entries to their own lotto draw... So not a prize really.

Doublestar · 16/08/2021 20:23

A colleague calls it a tax on the poor

This is exactly what I think. If you can afford it and do it as a bit of fun, fine. But if you're getting upset about your odds - you shouldn't be doing it.
When I see people clearly on the breadline buying loads of scratch cards in the shop it breaks my heart - it's like any other form of gambling, addictive and a complete waste of money.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 16/08/2021 20:43

Well... They said they wouldn't do scratch cards, individual charities would have those.

They said it would go to the best bid... but Camelot got it

They said it would only be once a week...

They said it would come back up for tender... but Camelot threatened to sue because they had all the infrastructure

They said it wasn't a profit making organisation, it was for charity... and yet charities find it hard to access the cash

They said the odds of winning would remain enticing

At what point will people stop playing?

It was always going to be a con

RainbowBriteUk · 16/08/2021 20:45

@Balgoresboy

It used to be in UK that the odds were 1 in 14 million which were, by lotto standards, not too bad.

Then they added the extra numbers a few years ago which made it almost 4 times harder to win at 1 in 45 million. Initially they said it was to boost jackpots which I was a bit meh about but I forgave them on the principle that they introduced the guaranteed million quid on each draw which was along with the price of the ticket.

At the weekend dh bought me a lotto ticket and it appears they have went and removed the raffle whilst keeping the bad odds. AIBU to think they knew all along the raffle million pound would be removed but they introduced it to compensate for the odds getting so bad and remove it when the public forgot?

I know the euro millions odds are bad too but in fairness they still do the raffle if a million quid and it serves all of Europe so the odds were never going to be great but aibu to think the uk national bog standard lottery is now a piece of shit?

You are BU to say 'they have went and removed...'
Teapot13 · 16/08/2021 20:46

The way I see it, you don't need to buy the ticket. It doesn't significantly increase your odds of winning. So I'm always on the lookout for a winning ticket on the pavement.

Sunshinedrops85 · 16/08/2021 20:46

My aunt would spend up to £60-£80 a weekly. Still not won yet.

You could put your money into premium bonds instead, monthly lottery and you get back what you put in (minus inflation).

Zenithbear · 16/08/2021 20:52

We do occasionally have a lotto ticket when it has rolled over and has to be won. But we prefer premium bonds instead. Prizes are shit but your stake is still there. It works for us because we have other (proper) investments so premium bonds are our cash fund for early retirement.

WaterIsBest · 16/08/2021 20:54

I know someone who won the lottery TWICE !

ConkerBonkers · 16/08/2021 21:01

Balgoresboy the order mattered because they were a new type of scratch card. If Camelot could get the gamblers winning on the first roll of cards, and excited about the new format then that's good marketing all round for the new type of card. What if the first roll was shit, they would all going Alaround saying how the new cards were rubbish.

Chainson · 16/08/2021 21:05

When I was 16-25ish I did the national lottery fairly regularly, (around 20 years ago) and I liked it because it was £1 and I'd spend some time from buying the ticket to the draw thinking about how I'd spend it, where I'd live, what handbags I'd buy, who I'd share with etc and it was a nice waste of time, my now DH and I would put a few quid on and then go to the pub and discuss/ bicker over what we'd do and where we'd go. But now I rarely buy a ticket, the odds seem way too high and I don't want to win tens or hundreds of millions. I want to win £1.2 or £2.5 and be more likely to win, £50mil would ruin us, and our kids probably. It used to be 3 balls and a tenner won and I got that a few times which felt like a proper win, a result. 4 balls won my MIL and I £150 once and we were over the moon! If we'd got one more it would have been £7k if I remember correctly. I'd go back to playing if the odds were dropped again for more wins for less money.