Lottery '˜joke' as matching five balls wins less cash than three
Camelot said more than 4,000 players matched five of the six balls to win £15 each.
This was compared to the 7,879 ticketholders with four numbers who won £51, while the 114,232 people who matched just three balls won £25.
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Hide AdNo one scooped Wednesday’s Lotto jackpot, sending Saturday’s prize to an estimated £28.2 million.
Some Lotto players vented their frustration on Twitter about the unusual situation, which can arise when there are a large number of lower prize winners because the minimum win is set at £25.
Leon Howell tweeted: “So getting 5 numbers in the national lottery tonight bagged you £15 but 3 numbers got you £25......thenationallotteryrobbery.”
Matt Needham wrote: “3 numbers tonight = £25. 5 numbers tonight = £15. The national lottery is an actual joke!!!!”
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Hide AdConor King added: “Match 5 numbers with odds of over 1 in 144,000... Win £15. The UK lottery is officially a joke.”
The winning Lotto numbers were 14, 21, 42, 35, 07, 41 and the bonus number was 43.
Six ticketholders matched five of six balls and the bonus ball to scoop £10,016, while 4,082 players matched five of the six balls to win £15 each.
There were no jackpot winners in the Thunderball. The numbers were 33, 26, 27, 38, 23 and the Thunderball number was 13.
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Hide AdThere were two jackpot winners in the Lotto HotPicks draw, each scooping £350,000.
A Camelot spokeswoman said: “We had an unprecedented 4,082 Match 5 winners last night.
“This is because five of the six main numbers drawn were multiples of seven – 07, 14, 21, 35 and 42 – and clearly this is a hugely popular set of numbers.
“To put it into context, the four Lotto draws before this one had 55, 36, 61 and 38 Match 5 winners – so over 4,000 Match 5 winners is extraordinarily high.”