The Lottery.

[Dave]

Ever since the Lottery changed from forty-nine numbers to fifty-nine the ’Voice of the Balls’ announces at the beginning of every draw that there are now more chances to win. There may be more number combinations, but surely this means less chance of winning the jackpot. Forty-nine numbers equals a one in fourteen million chance and fifty-nine numbers equals one in forty-five million. Also, if nobody wins the Lotto jackpot in the draw when it hits £22M or more, it will roll to the next draw one final time and if not won will go to however many people have five plus the bonus ball. The jackpot last Saturday, after nine Rollovers, reached over twenty-six million pounds and still wasn’t won with six numbers. Five plus the bonus ball won one person all that money, eighty-nine people won one thousand, three hundred and eighty-three pounds. Surely a better system, where the money is more evenly spread, could be put in place.

I think it should revert to forty-nine numbers, stop Rollovers and if it’s not won each week it should be filtered down fairly through all the other lesser winners. No one needs twenty-six million pounds, but ten thousand pounds could change some people’s lives. Paying up their mortgage, clearing up debts or helping their children get a start on the property ladder. The Lottery does great things for charity, it should do great things for the people who fund it, week in and week out. I’ll repeat myself, no one needs twenty-six million pounds.

That's my rant to start the new year, now I'm off to buy a lottery ticket.

[nikkai]

The only real winners are the ones who run the lottery and lotto and whatever they call it.
I was the receiver of a sum from a syndicate and from that day on I have never bought another ticket. but I have put £1.00 then £1.50 into an account for my Grandchildren.

[boatbuilder]

I couldn't agree more, Dave. I stopped doing the lottery when they put the price of the tickets up last time. I also don't like the other 'included' draw that was forced upon us several years ago when it went up to £1.50 and now, of course, it's £2. Likewise, the Euromillions has gone up from the initial £1.50 to £2.50.

You do realise that you now won't have to listen to the 'Voice of the Balls' on BBC1 anymore as the draws will no longer be shown on there from now on. If Mr. Dedicoat is going to be on the iPlayer output of the draws I don't know, and I won't be bothering to find out either.

[funkychick]

I did it for the first year it was introduced and didn't have a bite so I ve never been tempted since So I won't win anything

[Dave]

I've been doing the same numbers, mine and my sister's birthday dates, since it began and I'd kick myself if they came up after I'd stopped entering. All three replies convince me all the more that big pay outs for a handful of winners don't attract more people to take part. Smaller prizes for more people would.

[boatbuilder]

Dave, I used to do my wife's and my own birthdays (d/m/y) for years but decided enough was enough at the time stated in my previous post. I also used to do a line which was from a ticket my late mother-in-law had from the very first draw and which we came across in her belongings shortly after she died about a year after the lottery started. Neither line won more than the odd £10 although I may have had a couple of 4-number lines as well. I don't think either has won anything more than £10 since and as you said, the odds are even much longer now.

[Dave]

This reminds that I have £20 worth of Premium Bonds I bought in 1966 and have never won a penny. Considering my weekly wage was £9.00 then before stoppages that was quite a big investment.

[boatbuilder]

When our first daughter was born in 1970 we bought her £7 worth of Premium Bonds with money people gave to her and they haven't won anything yet. My mother had one from virtually day one of them in the 1950's which my dad bought her with a tax rebate he got and that never won anything up to when she died which was 23 years ago today. Strangely enough, I can still remember her bond number - AT654004. My wife bought £10 worth in the mid-80's and I bought £15 worth at the same time and I am the only one to have won - just £50 sometime in the mid-90's. I suppose I have had my fair share.

[nikkai]

I prefer the PB to the lottery,
At least with the PB you can claim your initial investment back but that said I have won several times with the PB's I have so I am staying with them.

[frankiesays]

I'm getting sceptical and suspicious in my old age. It is, or used to be a fact, that more lottery tickets were sold on a rollover week which means that the owners would see a bigger turnover over two weeks with a rollover than two weeks without. This means a rollover is good news for them. In the time gap between ticket sales closing and the actual draw the people who run the lottery will know from their computer system who has predicted which numbers and it would be easy for them to determine a sequence of balls which nobody has chosen and which would therefore produce a rollover. All they then have to do is devise a means of fooling an old chap in white gloves and produce the result of their choice when the machine draws the balls? I would have thought that would be easy to do with the technology available nowadays.

[Dave]

I'm getting sceptical and suspicious in my old age. .

You're not alone in that, frankiesays, a more PC way of putting it is 'Older and Wiser'.

[nikkai]

WE (the wife & I) have just had wins of £150 and £25 from our PB's SWMBO is a little peeved about her smaller amount but then I have little to say on the matter as what is mine is hers and what is hers is her own!

[boatbuilder]

Nikkai, you must have had at least THREE wins there as there isn't a £150 prize level.

Just came across this chart which gives the odds of winning on the Premium Bonds. I do like the one at the bottom.

PB.jpg (45.91 KiB) Viewed 2573 times

[nikkai]

Yes two for me but only one for the boss