UK National Lottery Pays Out Big Prizes At Christmas
A host of UK National Lottery players will be able to celebrate the New Year in style after scooping some huge prizes over the festive season. A couple of eagerly-awaited Lotto draws have already taken place – guaranteeing more winners than usual and giving away a massive jackpot – and now EuroMillions fans can look forward to a special game on Friday night.
Lotto
The festivities started with a bang last Saturday as a total of 221 Lotto raffle prizes were put up for grabs. In most draws there is one prize worth £1 million and 20 prizes worth £20,000, but in this game there were 200 extra prizes of £20,000. All the prizes were guaranteed, making the odds far better than usual and setting up 200 players for the perfect Christmas.
The Lotto jackpot also passed its £22 million cap on Saturday, meaning that the top prize had to be won in the following draw on Wednesday. Nobody matched all six main numbers, so the full £24.5 million went to the single participant who matched five main numbers plus the Bonus Ball.
“Wow - a single ticket holder has banked the £24.5 million jackpot in this special must-be-won draw. The jackpot rolled down and they only matched five main numbers and the Bonus Ball to bank the biggest sum won on Lotto in 2017,” said Andy Carter, the National Lottery’s Senior Winners’ Advisor.
EuroMillions
As the Lotto jackpot resets to £3.2 million for the final draw of the year this Saturday, many players will turn their focus to Friday’s EuroMillions. The top prize stands at £33 million, while a special edition of the UK Millionaire Maker will also put ten prizes of £1 million on offer rather than the usual two.
Everyone who buys a EuroMillions ticket in the UK is automatically entered into the associated Millionaire Maker game, and receives a random code alongside each line of numbers. If you are lucky enough to match one of the codes drawn exactly, you win £1 million, and the chances are considerably better tonight with eight extra prizes available.
One lucky player who enjoyed success in the Millionaire Maker draw on 15th December has come forward to claim their money this week, telling officials that he only played when he popped to the shops for some milk and ended up keeping the winning ticket under his pillow until he was ready to make contact.
Arthur Griffiths, an 81-year-old former steelworker from North Connelly in Bridgend, has no plans to leave his home of 40 years but would like a new three-piece suite. He said: "I simply can't believe my luck - I popped to the shop for a pint of milk and came away with a million pounds, which is just incredible."
If you would like to follow in Arthur’s footsteps and pick up a fantastic lottery prize before the turn of the year, you can choose numbers online now or go to any authorised retailer in the UK. Good luck!