Lotto moves from 49 to 59 balls, 10 October 2015

In June 2015 Camelot set out plans to widen the Lotto pool from 49 numbers to 59. The new game started with the draw on Saturday 10 October 2015. Lines stayed at £2, and three matching numbers still paid £25.

Two features were added. A Millionaire Raffle promised at least one £1 million winner in every draw. Matching two numbers now earned a free Lucky Dip for a later draw. Camelot said that change would lift the chance of winning any prize from 1 in 54 to 1 in 9.3.

The price was a harder jackpot. With ten more balls the odds went from about 1 in 14 million to about 1 in 45 million. As the jackpot kept rolling over, some players were unhappy. One petition asked Parliament to investigate Camelot, pointing to 11 draws in a row without a winner. It was rejected because a similar petition already existed.

Nobody won the jackpot in the first 59-ball draw. The numbers were 2, 3, 16, 32, 53 and 54, with bonus ball 8.

Sources

• The Courier / PA: Lotto shake-up to give better odds (June 2015) (thecourier.co.uk)
• UK Parliament petitions: Investigate Camelot regarding Lotto draw (petition.parliament.uk)
• Lottery.co.uk: Lotto results, 10 October 2015 (lottery.co.uk)