UK Lotto Prizes
To win a prize in the UK Lotto, you must match the numbers on your ticket with those drawn in the lottery. You pick six numbers from a choice of 59 and must match at least two of them to win a prize. Anyone who matches all six will win the jackpot.
The jackpot starts at £2 million on a Wednesday and £3.8 million on a Saturday. It can roll over a maximum of five times in a row before it must be won. If there are still no Match 6 winners after the fifth consecutive rollover, the jackpot funds will be split between players in all the other prize tiers.
UK Lotto Prize Tier and Odds of Winning
If you match two main numbers you will receive a free Lotto Lucky Dip, while there are fixed prizes of £30, £140 and £1,750 available for matching three, four, or five main numbers.
A Bonus Ball is taken from the same pool of numbers after the six main balls have been dispensed. If you match five of the main numbers plus this Bonus Ball, you will win £1 million.
The table below shows the prizes on offer and the odds of winning each one:
| Numbers to Match | Odds of Winning | Prize Value |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Numbers (jackpot) | 1 in 45,057,474 | Jackpot |
| 5 Numbers + Bonus Ball | 1 in 7,509,579 | £1,000,000 (fixed) |
| 5 Numbers | 1 in 144,415 | £ 1,750 (fixed) |
| 4 Numbers | 1 in 2,180 | £140 (fixed) |
| 3 Numbers | 1 in 97 | £30 (fixed) |
| 2 Numbers | 1 in 10.3 | Free Lotto Lucky Dip (fixed) |
| Odds of winning any UK Lotto prize are approximately 1 in 9.3. | ||
The following table shows how the jackpot funds will be split between the other prize tiers if there are no Match 6 winners in a ‘Must Be Won’ draw. Match 2 winners receive a free Lucky Dip and a £5 cash prize, and the money needed to pay this cash prize out is taken from the rolled down jackpot before the remaining funds are split according to the percentages in the table.
| Prize Tier | Percentage of Jackpot |
|---|---|
| Match 5 + Bonus | 3% |
| Match 5 | 5% |
| Match 4 | 7% |
| Match 3 | 85% |
A jackpot cap had previously been in place before the rollover limit was introduced in November 2018. The biggest UK Lotto win to date came on 9th January 2016, when two winning tickets shared a £66,070,646 jackpot. Each player received just over £33 million. Over a month later, a single participant won an amazing £32.5 million on Saturday 13th February.
Prizes are tax-free for UK residents, although anyone playing from overseas is advised to check with financial experts in order to work out whether a UK Lotto win will bring them any tax implications in their own country.