A HUGE £4.1m Lotto jackpot is up for grabs in tonight's special New Year's Day draw
The draw will take place at around 7.45pm, with Thunderball also taking place shortly afterwards at 8.15pm.
And last night saw no winners claim the £14m EuroMillions prize on offer – meaning Tuesday's jackpoit stands at £14m.
The EuroMillions numbers for New Yeat's Eve were: 7, 22, 25, 43, 49 and and the lucky stars were 6 and 7.
Please gamble responsibly. And when the fun stops, stop.
Read our lottery live blog below for the latest numbers and results…
- Joseph Gamp
Which star sign is the luckiest?
According to the stars, it seems that some of us are much more likely to get it than others.
Leo – Oh, Leo we knew you’d be one of the lucky ones. You always look good, have a string of admirers and just tend to always be prowling on the bright side of the street.
Virgo – It’s no coincidence that planner extraordinaire is one of the luckiest signs of the zodiac. Their MI5-level attention to detail and incredible work ethic may make it seem as if things just fall in their lap.
Scorpio – They’ll often find themselves in the right place at the right time as if by magic, much to the annoyance of some less fortunate souls.
- Joseph Gamp
What happens if no one claims a prize?
If no UK players come forward within 180 days then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated while it is held in trust, goes to National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.
The National Lottery have said: “Our players change the lives of individuals as well as communities by raising, on average, over £33 million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.”
- Joseph Gamp
Explainer: Where does the money go?
Around £30 million is raised every week by National Lottery players for good causes – so even if you don’t win some of the country’s most vulnerable do.
Here are some of the organisations they work with:
- Arts Council England
- Sport England
- BFI
- UK Sport
- Arts Council Of Wales
- Sport Wales
- Arts Council Of Northern Ireland
- Joseph Gamp
Who are the biggest Euromillions winners in history?
Your chances to win may be remote but if you do you could win big.
Here are some of the record prizes one by UK winners in the past:
- Joseph Gamp
Down to the wire
Back in 2019, a player in Manchester claimed their £1m prize just hours before the limit.
Others, however, haven’t been so lucky.
In June 2012, a EuroMillions prize worth an unbelievable £63.8m went unclaimed.
- Joseph Gamp
More than £1.8 billion raised for National Lottery Projects
From total ticket sales of £8,373.9 million in the year ending 31 March 2021:
- £1,887.5 million was raised for National Lottery projects
- £4,854.7 million was paid to players in prizes
- £1,004.8 million went to the Government in Lottery Duty
- £275.9 million was earned by retailers in commission
‘I won £1m on the lottery at 22 and still shop at Asda & Primark’
Roofer Jamie Heavens, then-22-year-old, went to work at his dad Mark’s roofing company in Dorset, near where he lives, and started his hands-on job.
After being sent off to work on another site, he stopped off at Romsey Services off the M27 for fuel and also bought a scratchard.
“I scratched it off in a layby and was stunned when it revealed I’d won £1m,” he said.
He kept it quiet from his colleagues – telling only his uncle and wife-to-be.
However, despite winning big, Jamie said: “Danielle still buys me jogging bottoms from Primark. I go out and graft everyday so she knows I will get them filthy. There’s no point in her getting me really smart ones, they would just get wrecked.”
Wife Danielle is still working as a receptionist at a garage whereas Jamie set up his own company, a roadside recovery service.
Read the article in full here.
Easy steps for playing the EuroMillions draw
- Pick 5 numbers from 1-50 and two Lucky Stars from 1-12. Or try a Lucky Dip for randomly selected numbers.
- Choose to play on a Tuesday or Friday – or both, then the number of weeks you’d like to play.
- You can play up to seven lines of numbers and buy up to 10 play slips at a time.
- You’re all good to go!
Top scratchcard to get
According to Oddschecker, the best scratchcard to snap up is £500 Loaded with odds of just 1 in 3.15.
For just a fiver you could be in the running for £500.
In second place, with the same odds, is Full of £500s which also has a top prize of £500.
Cashword Multiplier follows close behind, which sees punters scratch off letters to reveal symbols to create full words.
- Joseph Gamp
The Lottery timetable
There is a draw happening six nights a week, apart from Sundays.
Here is a timetable for all UK lottery games including Lotto, EuroMillions and Set For Life and what day they happen on.
- Joseph Gamp
Three ways to improve your chances for EuroMillions
1. Don’t favour special dates
It’s pretty common to opt for birthdays and anniversaries when choosing Lotto numbers.
If you’re relying on special dates, you’re never going to pick a number higher than 31 so you’re ruling out 19 possibilities.
Don’t be afraid to explore your options between 32 and 50.
2. Bunch your choices
To stand a better chance of scoring a win, go for numbers closer together.
For example, instead of choosing 3, 7, 14, 19, and 26, you could give 9, 10, 12, 13, and 14 a go.
3. Keep things balanced
As well as keeping your digits closer together, experts suggest keeping them well-balanced.
They recommend adding them up once you’ve made your choices to ensure the total is between 90 and 160.
This is because numbers between these two account for almost three quarters of the five-number successful EuroMillions sets.
- Joseph Gamp
Explained: How to play the Lotto
- Pick six numbers from 1–59 or go with a Lucky Dip for randomly selected numbers.
- You can play up to seven lines of numbers on each play slip
- Chose to play on a Wednesday or Saturday – or both days
- Joseph Gamp
Explained: What happens if no one claims a prize?
If no UK players come forward within 180 days then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated while it is held in trust, goes to National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.
The National Lottery have said: “Our players change the lives of individuals as well as communities by raising, on average, over £33 million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.”
- Joseph Gamp
Rolling in it
For many, winning the jackpot means mass celebrations and ultra-expensive cars – but not for Susan Hardman.
When the mum-of-one’s numbers came up in January 2010 she worked as a hairdresser in Eardisley, Hereford, and was “struggling financially”.
Instead of splashing out when the £1.2million win landed in her bank account, she traded in her scissors for overalls and became a pig farmer.
Susan claimed to be happier than ever knee-deep in mud and said bringing a piglet into the world brought her “more satisfaction” than winning the lottery.
- Joseph Gamp
Lotto millionaire dubbed Mr Sensible for investing with Queen’s bank
LOTTO millionaire Steve Thomson has been dubbed “Mr Sensible” after investing a chunk of his £105million win with the Queen’s bank.
Steve, 43, and wife Lenka, 42, put “tens of millions” into two trusts with Coutts & Co.
A £30million stocks and shares investment could earn the builder £90million in 20 years.
A pal said Steve, originally from Selsey, West Sussex, “doesn’t want to end up skint”.
Careful Steve, who won EuroMillions in 2019, took more than a year to leave his council house for a £4.5million pad.
- Joseph Gamp
Lottery with the best odds UK
The game with the best odds, in terms of winning the top prize, is the Thunderball.
According to the National Lottery website, the odds of winning the jackpots are:
- Lotto jackpot: 1 in 45,057,474.
- EuroMillions jackpot: 1 in 139,838,160.
- Set For Life top prize: 1 in 15,339,390.
- Thunderball top prize: 1 in 8,060,598.
A blessing in disguise
Martyn and Kay Tott got the shock of their lives when they realised they’d won £3million back in 2001 – six months after buying the ticket.
By the time they saw an appeal for the winner to come forward, they couldn’t find the ticket.
After 45 agonising days of deliberating, Camelot told the devastated couple that they weren’t going to receive the cash.
“Having that money taken away was torture,” Martyn told the Mail on Sunday.
“For a long time I lost sight of who I was and what I believed in. But I can honestly say I’m glad I didn’t get the £3million now.
“There is no guarantee it would have brought me happiness.”
Top tips for playing the lottery
Have you ever wondered the secrets to winning big in the lottery? Is it pure luck or is there a system to it…?
- Avoid computer picks. It lowers your odds of winning.
- On scratchcards, try buying 10 of one ticket instead of several different tickets.
- Mix up your numbers.
- Even it out – Don’t pick all odd or all even numbers.
- Split from the crowd, so don’t play patterns.
- Apparently, you should avoid anniversaries, birthday’s and dates.
- Avoid playing winning numbers that have been drawn before, because every combination has a chance of coming up once every half a million drawings.
Lotto winner dubbed ‘Mr Sensible’
Millonaire Lotto builder Steve Thomson has been dubbed “Mr Sensible” by pals after investing a chunk of his £105million win with the Queen’s bank – and looks set for another mega payout.
The former white van man and wife Lenka put “tens of millions” into a trust with Her Majesty’s favoured firm Coutts & Co following his 2019 EuroMillions win.
A £30million investment could see the Thomsons bag a staggering £90million over the next 20 years – almost as much as their original win.
The millions of pounds invested in the couple’s two separate trusts are invested in stocks, shares and property.
Friends have dubbed Steve, originally from Selsey, West Sussex, “Mr Sensible” for not squandering his lottery cash unlike some infamous winners.
Rule shake up means have to be 18 for scratch cards
A major rules shake-up to National Lottery tickets and scratch card will change who is able to buy tickets from October this year.
Those feeling lucky now have to be over 18 to play, as the minimum age goes up from 16 to 18.
That means it is illegal for any retailer to sell these goods to anyone under the age of 18 – and will apply to favourite games like Lotto and the EuroMillions.
The new rules come into effect from today after being announced as part of a major crackdown on gambling laws last year.
Online sales of lottery tickets and scratch cards have already been banned – this came into force in April this year.
‘Being rich doesn’t make you a better person’
A National Lottery winning dinner lady still lives in her council house, shops in Primark and drives a Kia despite bagging £1.8million.
Trish Emson, 51, explained money or her millionaire status did not change her or her partner Graham Norton, also 51, who still works as a decorator.
The down-to-earth pair have even managed to keep their teenage son Benjamin, 17, in check – and don’t even give him pocket money.
The modest mum, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: “Being rich doesn’t make you posh or a better person.
“I don’t like showing off and bragging about money and I can’t be posh anyway.
“To look at me you wouldn’t think I was a millionaire, but if I have to dress up I feel fake, I prefer my jeans,” she told The Mirror.
- Milica Cosic
Who are the biggest Euromillions winners in history?
Your chances to win may be remote but if you do you could win big.
However, that shouldn’t stop you playing and possibly even winning some big buck! Remember to always play responsibly though. And when the fun stops, stop.
Here are some of the record prizes one by UK winners in the past:
- Milica Cosic
Explained: How long do winners have to claim their money?
Winners from different countries have different deadlines to claim their prize.
In Austria, winners have a whole three years to claim the prize before it is returned to the lottery and used to fund boosted prizes.
Belgian winners, on the other hand, only have around 140 days before the money is returned to the Belgian National Lottery.
The least amount of time to snap up the jackpot goes to France and Luxembourg.
Winners from Ireland, Portugal and Spain all have around 90 days to tell the world they’ve won.
- Milica Cosic
Rule shake up means have to be 18 for scratch cards
A major rules shake-up to National Lottery tickets and scratch card will change who is able to buy tickets from October this year.
Those feeling lucky now have to be over 18 to play, as the minimum age goes up from 16 to 18.
That means it is illegal for any retailer to sell these goods to anyone under the age of 18 – and will apply to favourite games like Lotto and the EuroMillions.
The new rules come into effect from today after being announced as part of a major crackdown on gambling laws last year.
Online sales of lottery tickets and scratch cards have already been banned – this came into force in April this year.
- Milica Cosic
‘I sill shop in Primark despite winning £1.8m’
A NATIONAL Lottery winning dinner lady still lives in her council house, shops in Primark and drives a Kia despite bagging £1.8million.
Trish Emson, 51, explained money or her millionaire status did not change her or her partner Graham Norton, also 51, who still works as a decorator.
The down-to-earth pair have even managed to keep their teenage son Benjamin, 17, in check – and don’t even give him pocket money.
The modest mum, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: “Being rich doesn’t make you posh or a better person.
“I don’t like showing off and bragging about money and I can’t be posh anyway.
“To look at me you wouldn’t think I was a millionaire, but if I have to dress up I feel fake, I prefer my jeans,” she told The Mirror.
Read the article in full here.
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