UK Lotto players have £46.5 million to play for on Saturday 2nd January, following 13 draws without a winner. The last time anyone matched all six main numbers was Saturday 14th November when a single ticket scooped £4.3 million, the fourth player to do so since ten more numbers were added to the game in time for the draw on Saturday 10th October.
The previous record UK Lotto jackpot was £42 million, shared by three ticket holders on Saturday 6th January 1996. The most ever won on a single ticket is £22.5 million, claimed by a syndicate of two businessmen from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex after the draw on Saturday 10th June 1995.
In the US, the Powerball jackpot has been growing since the Avondale Revocable Trust of Tennessee snapped up $144.1 million on 4th November. There have been sixteen rollovers since then, leading to Saturday’s jackpot, which will be worth $334 million. There were ten more balls added to the main pool before the draw on 7th October, while the pool for the Powerball was reduced to 26 numbers.
The biggest award made by the game in 2015 was $564.1 million, which was shared between three players in the draw on Wednesday 11th February. Marie Holmes of North Carolina, the TL Management Trust from Texas and an anonymous player in Puerto Rico were the lucky ticket holders who benefitted from America’s fifth biggest lottery jackpot ever.
Lottery players in the UK and US, as well as those across the world who take part in the games through lottery concierge services, will be eagerly snapping up tickets for these big money prize pools, hoping that Saturday brings them a large slice of cash to help set up what could be an amazing 2016!
