The UK’s National Lottery was established in the early 1990s with a clear purpose: to create a nationwide lottery that would raise money for good causes while offering the public a chance to dream of big wins. It was officially set up by the government of John Major under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. After a competitive bidding process, a private consortium named Camelot Group won the license to operate the lottery on 25 May 1994. A huge launch was planned, and the very first National Lottery draw took place on 19 November 1994. This inaugural draw was a major TV event, hosted by celebrity Noel Edmonds on BBC1, and it captured the nation’s attention. (Fun fact: the first-ever Lotto numbers drawn were 30, 3, 5, 44, 14, 22, with a bonus number 10 – and seven jackpot winners split a prize of roughly £5.9 million that night.)
In its early years, the National Lottery was just a once-a-week affair (Saturday nights became “lottery night” on TV). Due to its huge popularity, a second weekly draw was introduced on Wednesdays starting 5 February 1997. The lottery fever in the late 1990s was such that millions of tickets were sold each draw. The game was originally just called “The National Lottery”, but by 2002 sales had dipped a bit as novelty wore off, so the main game was rebranded to “Lotto” on 18 May 2002. The iconic crossed-fingers logo stayed, but the branding shifted to make Lotto stand out as the flagship game. Despite the name change, many people still casually talk about “doing the lottery” meaning the Lotto draw.
Over the years, various additional games and draws were launched under the National Lottery umbrella. For instance, Thunderball (a smaller draw game) was added in 1999, and the multinational EuroMillions lottery began in 2004. These gave players more ways to play, but the Lotto draw remained the marquee event each week. There have been some memorable moments in Lotto history, such as extraordinary jackpot runs. One record-setting Lotto jackpot reached £66 million in January 2016 after weeks of rollovers – and it was eventually won by two lucky ticket-holders who split it £33 million each. Lotto has created thousands of overnight millionaires since 1994, and it turned into a staple of British pop culture (the slogan “It could be you!” became famous in the 90s).
As the Lottery evolved, so did its contributions to society. The 30th anniversary was marked in November 2024, celebrating not only the game’s longevity but also the massive £50 billion that had been raised for good causes in those three decades. In short, from its launch in 1994 to the present, Lotto has gone through a few changes and had its ups and downs, but it’s remained a beloved national institution – a blend of entertainment, hope, and charity all rolled into one.
Changes Over Time
The Lotto game you see today isn’t exactly the same as the one in 1994. Rules and format have been tweaked several times to keep the game fresh (and sometimes to boost ticket sales). Here’s a rundown of the major changes over time:
Number of Balls
Originally, Lotto was a 6/49 game – you picked 6 numbers out of 49. This held true for over 20 years. In October 2015, Camelot made a big change: the pool of numbers was expanded to 59 balls instead of 49. This change was intended to create bigger jackpots (since winning became harder), and indeed it did lead to larger top prizes, but it also made it statistically more difficult to win (more on the odds impact later). Along with this change, Camelot introduced a “Match 2” prize for the first time: if you match just 2 numbers, you get a free ticket (Lucky Dip) for the next draw. Previously, matching two numbers won nothing at all. So after 2015, people started seeing more “wins” on their ticket in the form of a free replay, even though the jackpot became harder to hit.
Ticket Price
For the first two decades, a line of Lotto cost £1. In October 2013, the price was doubled to £2 per play. This move was somewhat controversial (headlines at the time called it a stealth tax on those who play), but the lottery operator justified it by saying they were enhancing prizes. In fact, when the price doubled, some of the prize amounts were adjusted: for example, the reward for matching three numbers was increased from £10 (its longstanding level) to £25 to make the higher ticket cost more palatable. Jackpots also grew a bit after this change, and a new Lotto Raffle was introduced at that time to create more winners.
Draw Frequency and Schedule
The core schedule of Wednesday and Saturday draws has remained consistent since 1997. There was a brief experiment with additional one-off draws (like occasional Friday or Monday special jackpot draws tied to events or promotions), but the main routine of two draws per week hasn’t changed further. Even holidays are usually accommodated (for example, if Christmas Day falls on a draw day, they sometimes held the draw early or still on that day as needed).
Jackpot Rollovers and Caps
In the beginning, if no one won the jackpot, it would simply roll over to the next draw, increasing in size. Early on, there was a limit of three rollovers maximum (a quadruple rollover was not allowed). This limit was later increased – around 2011 they allowed up to four rollovers in a row. In those days, if the jackpot rolled over to the maximum number of times and still nobody won, there was a “Must Win” draw where the jackpot money would roll down to the next prize tier (e.g. shared among those who matched 5+Bonus). In 2015, alongside the increase to 59 balls, they scrapped a strict rollover count limit and instead introduced a jackpot cap: the jackpot could grow until it hit a cap of roughly £50 million. If it reached £50m and still wasn’t won, they’d allow one more draw; if still no jackpot winner then, the funds rolled down to boost the payouts for lower-tier winners in that draw. This scenario actually happened in January 2016, producing the record £66m jackpot which was then won and split. After that crazy £66m affair, the rules were tweaked again: the jackpot cap was reduced to £22 million and the procedure became that once the cap is hit (or exceeded), it can roll one more time and then must be won in the following draw. Fast forward to recent years: in November 2018, Lotto revamped its rules once more. They removed the Lotto Millionaire Raffle entirely (no more raffle numbers on tickets), and they set a simpler rule for rollovers: a maximum of five rollovers. If the jackpot hasn’t been won by the fifth rollover, then the next draw becomes a Must Be Won draw, where the jackpot rolldown kicks in. In a rolldown, if no one hits all six numbers, the jackpot prize money is shared among all the winners of the next highest tier that has winners – which effectively boosts all the other prizes tremendously for that draw. (Since 2020, even the match-2 winners get a cut in a rolldown, meaning on those Must Be Won nights you could win a few pounds in cash on top of your free ticket if you only matched 2 numbers!) The five-rollover limit is the rule as of now, keeping jackpots from growing indefinitely high but still allowing them to build to enticing levels.
Prize Structure Tweaks
Over time the lottery has adjusted how the prize pot is divided. The October 2013 overhaul (when tickets became £2) shifted prize amounts: notably, the fixed £10 prize for matching 3 was changed to £25, and the higher tier prizes (5 + Bonus, etc.) were adjusted slightly down to channel more money into jackpots and the new raffle. Then in 2018, the prize distribution changed again – Lotto introduced fixed cash prizes for matching 3, 4, 5, and 5+Bonus, instead of those prizes being pari-mutuel (split by number of winners) as before. Now, for example, 3 matches always = £30, 4 matches = £140, 5 matches = £1,750, and 5 + Bonus = a cool £1,000,000 for each winner. These fixed prizes were funded by removing the raffle, and they make the game a bit more predictable for players. The jackpot itself remains variable and shared if there are multiple winners, but all other tiers are fixed amounts per winner as long as it’s a regular draw. In Must Be Won scenarios (jackpot rolldown), those fixed amounts can increase significantly because the jackpot cash is added on top and split among all winners down the line.
Summary:
In summary, Lotto has seen changes in frequency (adding a second draw), pricing, number range, rollover rules, and prize payouts. Despite these changes, the essence of the game – pick six numbers and hope to win a big jackpot – remains the same, but the details have evolved to balance the odds, prize sizes, and the goal of keeping people interested.