In the United Kingdom, there are three major ways in which to play UK lottery on a national scale: the National Lottery, The Health Lottery, and the People’s Postcode Lottery. Each of these competitions has its own rules, mode of play, jackpots, draw schedules, and other features.
The Health Lottery and National Lottery can both be played online and offline via licenced retailers. To play UK lottery via the Postcode Lotto, however, players must sign up at the official website or via the PPL’s call centre.
Here’s a simple breakdown of each of these ways to play UK lottery:
Multiple Ways to Play the National Lottery
The UK national lottery is the primary state-franchised national lottery of the United Kingdom that also includes the Isle of Man. It has operated under the licence of the Camelot Group, regulated by the National Lottery Commission, since 1994. There are several different ways to play UK lottery under the National Lottery banner:
- Lotto
When Britons say they are going to play UK lottery, they are most likely referring to “Lotto”. Lotto is the flagship game of the National Lottery and the main draw is for the Lotto numbers. Players must select six numbers between 1 and 49 to play one line. They may play as many as seven lines per slip and purchase as many as 10 slips each.
Ticket sales to play UK lottery may be purchased daily from 8am to 11pm but ticket sales close temporarily between 7:30pm and 9pm on Wednesday and Saturday evenings to allow for draws.
- Lotto Hotpicks
Another option is to play UK lottery via Lotto Hotpicks, which uses the same numbers as the main Lotto draw. In this game, however, players must select the numbers on the balls as well as the number OF balls that they would like to match.
- Thunderball
Thunderball is an immensely popular way to play UK lottery games. To play for the £500 000 jackpot, players must enter a separate 39-ball National Lottery draw and select five main numbers between 1 and 39 and an extra “Thunderball” number between 1 and 14.
- EuroMillions
EuroMillions is actually a separate lottery to the National Lottery. It is a pan-European collaboration between Camelot and the national lotteries of several other European countries, with the maximum possible jackpot capped at €190 million.
- UK Millionaire Maker
To play UK lottery Millionaire Maker, all British players have to do is purchase a EuroMillions ticket. Their entry into the UK Millionaire Maker raffle is then generated automatically, with a guaranteed winning ticket for roughly £1 000 000 out there somewhere.
- Lotto Raffle, Scratch Cards and Online Instant Wins
Similarly, people who play UK lottery are automatically entered into the Lotto Raffle, which has set prize tiers. For those who like to play UK lottery but can’t stand the wait until the draw, they can take part in scratch cards and online competitions like bingo players playing online here.
The £100 000 Health Lottery Jackpot
The cap for the Health Lottery jackpot is set at a sizeable £100 000 and a large portion of the proceeds goes to health-related charities. Players must choose five different numbers between 1 and 50 to enter the draws, which take place Tuesday through Saturday evenings.
The Subscription-Based People’s Postcode Lottery
The People’s Postcode Lottery is a unique way to play UK lottery in that it does not entail choosing numbers or purchasing a ticket. It is a subscription play UK lottery, which means that people pay a monthly fee to have their postal code entered into draws for daily and weekly prizes.