To start playing the lottery?

[pedropony76]

This may seem like a silly question but I thought I’d get some advice from level headed MNetters before I go throwing money away!

Do you or have you ever played the lottery? Have you ever won anything? Recently I’ve been thinking that it can’t hurt to start playing the lottery and chance my luck but I also don’t want to waste money. I’m just so fed up of constantly being broke so what’s £2.50 here and there for the odd ticket?!

What’s everyone’s thoughts/experience playing the lottery?

Thanks again for the comments.

I can now see why people stick with the sqme numbers! As I said, I may play here and there but think I’ll leave it alone. I’ve had a look into premium bonds but still don’t really understand it.

Is it basically putting money into a savings account and you get entered into a raffle every time you save an amount or something? Someone enlighten me pls!

Yes. Playing the lottery is fine as long as you see the money you spend on tickets and scratchcards as part of your entertainment budget. Playing it because you need more money is madness.

I won. Not on the numbers but on the extra prize but at the end (red389 type thing). Won 20k. Sorted a house deposit!

The chances of winning are slim to none.
Sit in the back of a car with a blindfold on and have someone drive you 500 miles. At some point in that journey, throw a pound coin out of the window.
Then have them drive you back and find that pound coin.
Finding it is the same chance as winning the lottery.

A lot of people who have won the lottery end up miserable. It changes your relationships with people.

Not quite. You buy the bonds (minimum purchase £25). Every month they are entered into a draw and you have the chance of winning a prize between £1m and £25. The average return is 1.4%. The good thing is that your capital is completely safe and you can get it back whenever you like.

The chances of winning anything with a small stake are very low, but then so are the odds of winning the lottery, and at least with premium bonds you get your money back.

Playing it because you need more money is madness

but that's exactly why many people do play it;those on the breadline or those who live paycheque to paycheque. 2 quid is the cost of the uk lotto so 1 line a week even for the neediest is hardly going to break the bank. It's cheap to play which makes it accessible to all which is where they make their money, the jackpot is generous but the odds are pretty terrible.

A lot of people who have won the lottery end up miserable. It changes your relationships with people

complete urban myth with no evidence behind this. There are a handful of tragic tales that circulate in the media and because of these ''all lotto winners end up broke'' nonsense goes around.

@DiamanteDelia right okay thank you. So often do you have to buy these bonds for you to be entered into the monthly draw? And you say you can get your money back?

I’m not sure why it was so confusing for me when I looked into it! I may need to look again

@pedropony76 You just buy them once and they are entered into every draw from then on, until you sell them and get your money back.

I must emphasise that, with a small stake, you’re very unlikely to win. But at least you don’t lose the capital and it might scratch your gambling itch for you. A better idea than the lottery anyway.

Buying one ticket at a time, that you can afford, is playing for entertainment.

So the bigger the amount, the more entries you get?

@DiamanteDelia oh no way that sounds much safer as you’re able to get your money back in the end.

As a pp said, does the amount of bonds you buy mean you’re entered into a draw more frequently?

The more bonds you hold, the higher the chance of winning. So someone with £50,000 will be 1000x more likely to win than someone with £50. But each individual bond has the same chance. A bit like a raffle- the more tickets you have, the higher the chance of winning something. But in this case they hold the raffle every month and you can get your money back whenever you like.

From a purely financial point of view, I’d probably suggest a savings account rather than premium bonds. But if what you want is to think there’s a chance of a big win, however slight, then premium bonds will give you that, and without throwing your money away as you would on the lottery.

Why not put your money in a pot, and when you have enough (can't remember the minimum), buy premium bonds. You still have the excitement of thinking you might win big, and the disappointment when you don't, but you keep your stake.

pedropony76 what is your age?

unless you’re doing it to help charitable causes (how much of lottery money goes to this, I’m not sure ), you are far better starting a premium bonds savings account surely. It gives you that little bit of hope you might win money but instead of losing money on a ticket you are putting it into a safe place and can withdraw it if you need it to fall back on- I count mine as my emergency savings but win £25 from time to time

My best friend won €50,000, which was the jackpot in a German lotto she played

We do premium bonds. The lotto we only do if the pot is over £100k - otherwise we declare it not worthwhile 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Ooo I like the sound of premium bonds! I think I’ll do that instead of wasting money playing the lottery.

@SheSaidHummingbird I’m 23, why do you ask?

We used to play it back in the day when it was £1 a ticket. We stopped when they simultaneously doubled the ticket price and increased the range of numbers making it even less likely we'd win anything.

If I was going to play it again I would adhere to the following rules to avoid wasting too much money:

Only play once a month
Only buy one ticket at a time
Buy a lucky dip ticket (so no worry about 'my numbers' coming up if I hadn't bought a ticket)