UK Lotto Information
As of June 7, 2026, the UK Lotto changed its format. Every £2 ticket now gives you two chances to win on the exact same night, improving the odds of winning any prize from 1 in 9.3 down to 1 in 4.9. Entry to both draws is included automatically in the cost of your regular £2 Lotto ticket. You will receive a raffle code if there is a Lotto Millionaire Raffle scheduled on the same night, otherwise you won’t be given one.
The UK Lotto has been the main lottery game played in the UK since its first draw in 1994. The game is drawn twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Wednesday draws are shown live on YouTube at 8pm, with Saturday draws appearing live on YouTube and Facebook at 8:30pm.
The starting jackpot for UK Lotto is a minimum £2 million for Wednesday draws and £3.8 million for Saturday draws, though these values can vary based on ticket sales. If there are no jackpot winners, then the prize will roll over to the following draw and be added to the prize fund. The jackpot can roll over for a maximum of five consecutive draws before a 'Must Be Won' draw is held and the prize money is guaranteed to be given away.
On 9th January 2016, the Lotto jackpot reached an astonishing £66 million after 15 straight rollovers. Two players split the top prize on the night, with each winning ticket receiving £33 million each, and helped smash a 20-year-old record for the largest UK Lotto jackpot.
Players must choose 6 numbers from 1 to 59 to play Lotto. Players have the option of choosing their own numbers or opting for a Lucky Dip, which will automatically generate a set of six random numbers. Tickets can be purchased either online or from an authorised retailer.
Under the Two-Round Draw format introduced in June 2026, your chosen numbers are entered into two entirely separate drawings on the same night (Round 1 and Round 2) using independent draw machines. This means you can win cash prizes in either round, or even both rounds simultaneously on the exact same ticket. The jackpot is shared across both rounds, while all other cash prize tiers are fixed payouts awarded per individual round as detailed below:
| Match | Prize (Per Round) | Odds (Per Round) |
|---|---|---|
| Match 6 Numbers | Jackpot (Shared across both rounds) | 1 in 22,528,738 |
| Match 5 Numbers + Bonus Ball | £1,000,000 (Fixed) | 1 in 3,754,790 |
| Match 5 | £1,000 (Fixed) | 1 in 72,208 |
| Match 4 | £50 (Fixed) | 1 in 1,091 |
| Match 3 | £10 (Fixed) | 1 in 48.4 |
| Match 2 | £1 (Fixed) | 1 in 5.4 |
Because your ticket automatically enters you into two consecutive drawings on the same night, the overall real-world odds of winning any UK Lotto prize drop to an improved 1 in 4.9.