According to new rules that were introduced in the summer of 2016, the UK Lotto jackpot is capped when it reaches the £22 million mark. Once this total is reached, the top prize is allowed to roll over for a single time before it must be won in the following draw. Despite the best efforts of ticket holders in Saturday’s draw, the jackpot rolled over for a tenth time, resulting in a ‘must win’ situation.
If no ticket holder is able to match all six numbers that appear in this Wednesday’s draw, the jackpot prize will be allowed to roll down, meaning that it is entirely possible that a player (or players) in the Match 5+1 prize tier could be celebrating a big midweek win. In fact, this roll down means that Lotto ticket holders are now six times more likely to win the game’s premium prize, with odds nose-diving from one in 45 million to just one in 7.5 million if there is no Match 6 winner.
This may be the first time in 2017 that the jackpot cap has been activated, but Lotto has hit its limit on a number of occasions. Roll downs occurred in no fewer than three draws in 2016, with the most recent taking place on Saturday 26th December, when a single ticket holder matched all five main numbers and the Bonus Ball to successfully scoop a prize worth over £26.4 million.
With this upcoming draw being labelled a ‘must win’, coupled with the fact that the jackpot has reached sum a colossal size, National Lottery officials are anticipating that tickets will be snapped up as Wednesday night’s sales deadline looms. “When the jackpot gets bigger, that drives sales,” a spokesman for lottery operator Camelot told the Telegraph. “More and more people either buy extra lines, or occasional players might buy a ticket. And when it’s a must-be-won jackpot, we see sales increase. More and more people get excited.”
So, if you feel that this Wednesday’s jackpot has your name written all over it, you can play online or via any authorised retailer throughout the UK. Best of luck!
