Bigger prizes set for Lotto and '25-year payout' game planned
A "rolldown" could further increase prizes when the jackpot goes unclaimed six times in a row.
Monday 3 September 2018 21:12, UK
National Lottery operator Camelot is boosting prizes in the Lotto game after a recent slump in sales.
Five balls and the bonus will net players a fixed £1m, up from around £50,000 currently.
Five numbers will win £1,750 instead of £1,000; four balls will go up from £100 to £140; and three will be £30 instead of £25.
The larger prizes will be funded by scrapping the raffle, with the changes starting in November. The price of paying stays at £2 per line.
The shake-up comes after chief executive Nigel Railton launched a review in response to an 8.8% dip in sales in 2016/17.
It found that when Lotto changed in 2015 it became too similar to the EuroMillions game.
The Lotto jackpot will also only be able to rollover five times instead of 10.
If no one wins on the sixth draw the money will "rolldown" and boost prizes in the other categories; from five plus the bonus all the way down to three balls.
Camelot says, for example, the three-ball prize could increase from £30 to around £100.
A new annuity game set to offer a prize of "thousands of pounds every month for at least 25 years" is also expected to launch in the spring.
Such games offering long-term payouts are very popular in other countries.