PREMIUM BONDS MAY DRAW ONWARDS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Other one is almost full so a new thread for us to share all our winnings (I hope)

fir the first time I won £50 / usually £25 if I win

and May brought 25 and 50 so £75. Happy days

quite a few have won this month. Always a joyful feeling seeing the dancing lady in the rain kr sunshine

Thank you I will get the app

I have met someone, a friend of a friend, who won the million in the first ever draw his bonds went into.

My mum has had ours since 1971 and not a single penny has been won! I now have an app to check them and nope, def correct - not a penny has been won

Well, a lot of people say this, but how many bonds do you actually mean?

So lucky!!

Where do we sign up to premium bonds? I'd heard about it so came over to the money board to see if anyone is discussing it and I am hooked after reading this thread.

@Rupiduti

https://www.nsandi.com/home-pagee*

Thanks very much. I had seen this website but am clueless so wanted to check. Signing up now

If you get in before the end of the month, you'll be eligible for the August draw, so it's worth it to hurry. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until the September one.

Actually I know someone who has won a million. They didn't tell me but a friend of theirs told me.

I rarely see them but I know they own several properties. They work and they go on lovely holidays. They're very down to earth and don't know that I know. I'm trying not to say anything too identifying here.

They won the amount around 15 years ago when a million was worth a lot more than it is today.

But how many does she have @AlfietheSchnauzer

How many have the money paid out and how many have it go back in? I changed to going back in after originally have it paid to me.

Ours are set to reinvest but those who have full holdings have to pay out.

The people who say stuff like "I've had bonds for 30/40/50 years and they have NEVER won!" are generally referring to a very small amount bought on their birth or as a present etc.

I have a 25 pound bond I have had for 40 years and of course it has never won. My max (minus the 25!) wins something often.

Yes, you're right. If the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24,000, someone with 25 in bonds (and average luck) would win once every 960 draws, so once every 80 years.

The amazing thing is that each bond does have that same chance of winning. Yes the more you hold, the more you win but this story always give me hope.

2004
A new record in the history of Premium Bonds has been set today as a Bond bought more than 45 years ago in February 1959 has won the £1 million jackpot for a mystery winner in the London Borough of Newham.
Not only is it the smallest value Bond ever to win the £1 million jackpot, it is also the oldest Bond to net the top prize, debunking the myth that old Premium Bonds never win prizes.
The lucky winner, whose identity is being kept a closely guarded secret, owns just £17 worth of Premium Bonds and the winning Bond was one of three purchased together in 1959. The odds of £17 worth of Premium Bonds winning the jackpot are one in 1.4 billion.

It has become a lot more improbable for someone holding a low amount to win since 2004, since a lot of the cash that has been added to PBs since then has been in the form of large holdings.

It's also the reason why when you look at the winning numbers it always seems to be the recent bonds that win - because people have been piling in by buying a FH over the last 20 years, presumably because of the low interest rates.

In April 2023 a FH had about a 1 in 1.2 million chance of winning 1 million, which translates to a 3.5 billion chance of £17 winning vs. the 1.4 billion chance in 2004, so a factor of 2 decrease.

It actually surprises me that they don't up the holding, due to inflation and the fact the government probably wants to borrow money and there is appetite for it.

Yes, I wondered if they should up the max holding.

Every month I mention about 'getting ready' for my Agent Million visit to my DM. She's not deaf, but clearly doesn't pay much attention to my waffling fantasies.

I've just found out this whole time she thought I was saying Agent William. So that's what I call 'him'__ now

I really don't pretend to understand statistics and how odds change with the growing totals. But does a single bond not have the same chance of being picked as any other bond?

It absolutely does. Each Bond has the same chance of being a winner. I think they mean that the more Bonds you have the more your chance of winning increases.

Cannot wait for my visit from Agent William 🤣.

It's kind of obvious that agent million is going to give you a million quid.

What did she imagine Agent William was going to give you, and were you not slightly concerned that she though you were hoping some random man might turn up once a month ?

Allegedly.

Although it must be quite hard to design a future proof system and probably account for the old numbers in the way the random numbers are picked. My guess is when they first came up with it they no way had enough capacity.

Maybe they deal with it by just mapping the old bond numbers onto new format ones in the system.

She knew what is was for, not just a random monthly man-visit The conversation would go something like, 'Oh, better make sure my hair is done, Agent William Million is coming this week from the Premium Bonds with my million quid'.

She says she heard William, and just thought that was his name. I'm pretty sure she just zones out when I speak

Love the thought of Agent William 😂 Hope one day he will pay me a visit!