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

[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?

On the back of this thread, I've bought a ticket for tomorrow night.

I just had a cheeky rightmove search for possible new homes once I win, this house is interesting

"Busy" is the best word to describe it.

Well only about 55% of your ticket money goes into the prize fund so no wonder the odds are shit.

I stopped playing when I realised so little went towards the prizes.

@MargosKaftan

On the back of this thread, I've bought a ticket for tomorrow night.

I just had a cheeky rightmove search for possible new homes once I win, this house is interesting

"Busy" is the best word to describe it.

So odd that despite the huge house they only have 31 photos and one is of a pig statue

@MargosKaftan

Sorry to break it to you but tomorrows jackpot looks to be £14million. That house set within 54 acres is unlikely to be within your budget.

@Tablow - to be fair, looking at the rest, they probably thought piggy was worth wasting a photo on- who knows what other horrors that house had. The number of dead things and oversized light fittings. Real "money doesn't buy taste" example.

@Margoskaftan I reckon I could make it look amazing with my host of different sized kallax units

I stopped playing when I won £2.70 with a ticket that cost me £2.50. For some reason I found that much more annoying than not matching any numbers.

@MargosKaftan

There are only so many ways you can become a multimillionaire:

A) earn it
B) marry it
C) inherit it
D) steal it
E) win it

Given the family I've been born into, the person I've fallen in love with, career choices I've made, and my inability to plan a successful heist - E is the only option left. Its unlikely, but "probably won't happen" is still better odds than "definitely won't happen" .

Indeed! I concur as the lottery is - like all gambling - just for losers! The house always win and apparently 1 pence in the pound may even make its way to fund British sports including our Olympic champions amongst other community projects. The house/operator and retailers are laughing all the way to the bank as it’s literally money in the bank! It could be you but most likely not you! The odds are too high or unlikely especially with constant tinkering in their favour and saturation of countless lottery offerings all with impossible odds of infinite millions to one and hence jackpot perpetual roll overs. Imagine all that money you “won” by abstaining - that’s hundreds if not a thousand pounds yearly if you buy one of each gambling offering for each draw. You “won” by default by not wasting monies on gambling!

Also mentioned in nineteen eighty four. How the poor populace were kept in line by collective obsession with the lottery- which no one wins.

Used to work in Spar and used to bore and depress me people going on about what they'd do if they won, what numbers came up last week, and thinking having each one printed on a different ticket would increase their chances. Oh and the belief that spending more would also increase chances of a big win. Pensioners were the worst for blowing money on scratch cards and lotto

@TinySaltLick

I don't care whether you believe me or not - it was a long time ago and my " lived experience". I have never bought one myself and never will.

The cards are indeed a tax on the poorest members of society and are addictive- just buy one more. You may be lucky this time.

rather than rolling over & one person wins 90m why don't the just do more prizes for more people?

@treacletreacle I only ever bought new out scratch cards. Thanks for confirming what I suspected! I hardly ever do it now because there aren't many £1 cards.

When it comes to gambling there is only one winner. The bookie, or in this instance, the lotto.

You were never likely to win. The lure is in the thought that maybe you will, and as such people buy tickets, even though they know the odds of winning of millions to one.

@NinaBallerinaShoes

I run an office lottery syndicate. We usually win what we put in. It's our way of saving up for our Christmas do. We don't bother with Set for Life because most of us won't live for another 30 years!

Set for life would be a nightmare to win in a syndicate, having to divide £10k up every month for 30 years 😂

If a person wins it and then they die the lottery gives their relatives a lump sum of whatever amount is still outstanding for be paid.

''rather than rolling over & one person wins 90m why don't the just do more prizes for more people?''

depends on how big you want to make the prizes. So if you talking about 50k for each person or even 500k then the sales would massively drop as it is the allure of winning life changing amount where you are set for life that makes people play.

If you mean make 90 millionaires rather than give out 90 million to 1 person then this too is a big problem they can't do as it effectively would mess up the economy in that there would be millionaires left, right and centre. This fcuks up inflation and the poor get poorer and prices would rise.
Not exactly how exactly it works but I read that before-basically the article answered the question of why can't there be more big prizes to go around and it said that it would mess with the economy.

''I stopped playing when I realised so little went towards the prizes.''

wouldn't bother me if it was thrown in the bin-why do you care? I, and most others, generally play to win big and be set up for life In fairness the jackpots usually cater for this well and so the lottery fulfil their role in providing this.

My gripe however is not that, it is how the jackpots in the UK lottery have become far too difficult to win and the odds should never have being allowed to change like that.

I guess that the majority of ticket buyers have absolutely no idea of the odds, and especially how those odds have been tweaked against winning.

My personal view of lotteries is that they are a tax on the stupid.

Would you put a tenner on a three-legged horse?

''I stopped playing when I won £2.70 with a ticket that cost me £2.50. For some reason I found that much more annoying than not matching any numbers.''

And people on this thread were moaning about there should be more prizes. If they cut these small filler prizes and put it into the jackpot I think it be better.

The odds are crap alright but it's the only investment in my future that I can afford to make.

Incidentally I used to know a woman with a real scratchcard problem. I mean she spent hundreds on them every week for years. Her biggest win ever was £2k which probably just about paid for a few months' worth of the things.

''Set for life would be a nightmare to win in a syndicate, having to divide £10k up every month for 30 years 😂

If a person wins it and then they die the lottery gives their relatives a lump sum of whatever amount is still outstanding for be paid.''

it would not work like that-it is a syndicate so the names of all the people be given to the lotto and the lotto give it to each of the winners each month and not just the ticker buyer.

''The odds are crap alright but it's the only investment in my future that I can afford to make.''

same, I think people are quite deluded when hey say put the money towards x,y o z scheme instead and I'm thinking the whole 7.50 I spent on the Euro millions each week wouldn't get me into any scheme or investment that would give me any more chance of becoming rich. That's 390 quid a year which whilst may be wasted still would get me nowhere near to being rich by either saving it or investing it.

In essence, it is only if you are spending over 20-30 a week on it I'd say you have a problem and could invest the money more wisely.

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 correctl I'd go back to playing if the odds were dropped again for more wins for less money

For the main lotto, that's exactly what they have done. A lot of people here seem to be conflating the main lottery game with one of the other ones, possibly Euro Millions.

For the main lottery, granted, almost no-one does win the jackpot, but the odds of winning a million in every draw, which you get for 5 and the bonus is one in 7.5 million, which is better than the original lottery, for a life changing amount of money .

Plus if no-one wins the jackpot for about 5 draws, the prize fund rolls down so all the smaller prizes are increased, sometimes significantly, eg over £100 for 3 balls, or about £10k for 5. And in every draw, if you get 2 balls, you win a free lucky dip, so doubling your chances or halving the cost, depending on how you look at it.

The lottery isn't an investment. Its buying the right to dream. Its a bit fun.

I dont buy lots of tickets, just when I fancy the dream. In the same way I dont get a takeaway every day, but occasionally I will when I'm out, even though it would be more economical to wait and make one at home.

Its less than the price of a takeaway coffee and it gives me the excuse to play "how would I spend it?" Game.

(And no £50m wouldn't ruin my life, it would be fabulous!)

I play the lottery on a semi regular basis. A few quid here and there.

Trying to get money out of the HLF now National Lottery Heritage Fund is like getting blood out of a stone.