To start playing the lottery regularly

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Desperate I am.

Cant retire, retirement age is through the roof. Im knackered.

Cant do anything else

So is it foolish to start essentially gambling?

Who plays the lottery these days. Just gone into the website and theres this game, that game, this game that game

And I thought it was still a pound a ticket!!!

Don't bother there's only one winner Camelot.

Ive just started the lottery but don't do the instant games, they are a total waste of money and addictive

We have a direct debit to Camelot for many years, haven't got addicted. I think of it as a charity thing anyway as they donate to lots of causes.

We also hold Premium Bonds and once a month I do a scratchy which is a massive waste of time but still I do them.

Those online gambling games and apps are something I'd never do, asking for trouble.

I put £25 a month into Premium Bonds. You've still got the slim chance of winning big prizes but you can get the money back if you need it.

One doesn’t “play” the lottery

The lottery plays them

My mum seems to get keep winning on the bonds, I dont know how she does it

The chances of winning are so tiny it is really just a waste of money.

I play the postcode lottery and won several times including £2000.

Well done! I can guarantee you are in a minority though.
My oh has played for years and won absolutely nothing

If she has full holdings she will probably win something most months

Oh I didn't realise it was a zombie thread that had been bumped by a scammer

I gave up playing the lottery when they increased the cost to £2 a ticket and reduced the chances of winning by adding more numbers, which must have been about 20 years ago!

I'd never won more than around £20 on it.

One thing I would suggest if you do start playing the lottery - get a 'lucky dip' ticket rather than having 'your numbers' - then you won't fall into the trap of thinking if you miss a week, it might be 'your numbers' that come up.

I would also do some research as to what gives you the best chance of getting what you want. If it's simply enough to retire on, playing for a multi-million prize might not be your best option, you might be better playing for something with a lower prize but more favourable odds. E.g. personally I think anything over £500k would enable me to retire (modestly).

I don't think the chances of winning the lottery are high enough to warrant spending £100 a year on lottery tickets every week, when I think what else I could have for £100, but as long as you don't have addiction issues or a history of problem gambling, if you think it's worth it for the very small possibility of a win, then do it - but as I say, check which lottery gives you the most favourable odds.

Oh, bummer, wasted my time on that response then 😆

@soupyspoon Did you start doing the lottery - any luck with it yet?

Lol, sporadically. But guess what, £50 quid came through the other day from the premium bonds!!

Ive only got £100 with them in total anyway!

Need to pay that cheque in. Its a lottery finding a bank thats open on weekends now.

Check your banking app, some let you scan a cheque to pay them in

Wow, that's a good return on £100! May your luck continue!

I dont have a banking app. I use online banking on a laptop

oh AI tells me I can use a cash machine? Is that right?

It also says post office with a deposit slip and a deposit envelope, I have neither of these.

Depends on your bank, I think. I can use a cash machine, you just feed in the cheque and type in the amount, it reads it to check they agree then adds it to your account and prints off a receipt with a little picture of the cheque.

Quick additional comment - friend of mine tried to gamble her way to success after a bad business decision. Lost her house. Very sad. Unbelievably she tried 3 more MLM “businesses” & lost the money she’d put into them (wouldn’t countenance any conversation on any of them) & tried to gamble her way out of that… guess how that went!
Oh for the simple old days of in-person £1 weekly tickets!

@soupyspoon you can pay cheques into your bank at the post office. Think you need the deposit slip from your bank?
Sorry been years since I had a cheque!

@soupyspoon congratulations on your win though.....💐❤️

Why don’t you set your premium bond wins to auto reinvest? The more you have the more chance you have of winning. Would rather do that than waste it in the lottery and the money is easily accessible if you need it.

I play lottery every week, twice a week with work syndicate, 15 years so far = never won.
I play euromillions, both days, 13/14 years = never won anything over £5 and thats like once a year.
Premium bonds = nothing.
Can't now not do it because with my luck the numbers would come in!