Types of Games offered in the Uk and Euro Millions Lotteries

» How the UK Lottery and Euro Millions is Played

There are now six highly popular games that are played via draw with The National Lottery. Each one is slightly different, but with so many chances to win a prize, it’s worth knowing how the games are played.

The National Lottery Draw

Known as the Lotto, this is the original lottery draw game. You choose six numbers from the number 1-49 and then one bonus ball number. You can choose any six numbers you want, or you can use the Lucky Dip option where the machine will choose the numbers at random for you.

The more numbers you match the greater your prize is. The bonus ball is applicable when a player gets 5 numbers (no less) matched – and the bonus ball has been matched too, this increases the prize money. Matching three numbers wins a fixed amount of £10.

Prizes can be placed into the roll over if no one wins.

The cost of a play is £1.

Draws are held on a Wednesday and on a Saturday.

Lotto Hot Picks

Introduced in 1999, Lotto Hot Picks will also use the draw numbers but in a different way. The player can choose the amount of balls they want to match the numbers to. For example, you could choose to only match one ball and choose the number 3. Therefore it is a safer choice than trying to match 5 balls but gives me greater odds at 9/1 – however the prize is only £5.

Thunderball

Introduced in 1999, Thunderball consists of the player choosing 5 numbers from 1-34 and one Thunderball number from 1-14. The key is to try and match the Thunderball as you will get a prize for just matching one main ball and the Thunderball.

Thunderball is held on a Wednesday and Saturday and costs £1 per play.

Dream number

Dream number was launched in 2006. This game can be played alongside Lotto or on its own. The key to winning this game is matching the numbers in the order they are drawn but what is different with this game, is that the numbers are automatically generated and come pre printed on lotto slips (although the player is under no obligation to enter this game).

It costs £1 to play. Matching 1 number in order wins £2, but matching all 7 numbers wins the jackpot of £500,000.

Daily Play

As you can guess, The Daily Play draw is played everyday except for Sunday and Christmas. The player chooses seven numbers from 1-27, and the prizes can be anything from a free lucky dip ticket to £30,000.

As this is daily unlike the Lotto draws, this is not broadcast. However the results appear online, and can be checked via the official Lottery website and via the BBC website.

Euro-Millions

Beginning is 2004, Euro-Millions includes 9 European countries. The player must choose 5 numbers from 1-50, then two lucky star numbers from 1-9. The cost is £1.50 to enter.

The draw is done every Friday and although the odds of winning the jackport are extremely high, Euro-Millions is known for its staggering rollovers and eventual prize funds.

With an extremely varied collection of draw games to participate in, it’s not surprising that 80% of British people play the lottery at some point. There are so many chances to win cash prizes it is a case of choosing a game which suits the player then taking a chance; after all, you never know.