Saturday’s Lotto jackpot estimated at £3.8m after launch of new format
The National Lottery’s new Lotto format held its first draw without a grand prize winner on Wednesday, leaving it with an estimated £3.8 million jackpot this Saturday.
The opening draw on Wednesday evening introduced a revamped game offering players two different opportunities to win £2 from a single line.
The draw, which is held twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 20.00, is now done in a two-round system.
This involves two separate machines that draw two sets of six main numbers and a bonus ball.
This means players can win in either round or both with a single Lotto entry.
The winning numbers in the National Lottery Lotto this evening are as follows:
Round 1: 01, 12, 25, 29, 40, 41 and the bonus ball is 16.
Round 2: 02, 05, 12, 42, 47, 54 and the bonus ball is 51.
No player was able to match all six main numbers to win the grand prize in either draw, and no ticket holder was able to match five of the six numbers to win one million pounds.
But 94 players won £1,000 each by matching five out of six numbers.
No player was able to match five out of five numbers in the Lotto HotPicks game, which uses the same numbers as the lotto draw, meaning the guaranteed prize of £175,000 per winner was missed out.
The National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are 01, 08, 12, 14, 24 and the Thunderball number is 10.
No player matched the five-point-plus Thunderball, so there was no winner of the £500,000 guaranteed prize.
Andy Carter, senior winners advisor at National Lottery operator Allwyn, said: “The new Lotto is here. One ticket, two chances to win and more winners.
“As no-one won tonight’s £2 million jackpot, an estimated £3.8 million jackpot will be offered in Saturday’s draw.
“This is the start of a new chapter for the Lotto, but every ticket played is more than just a chance to win – players help raise around £33 million weekly for good causes projects that make a real difference in the UK.”
In the new game, players continue to choose the number six from 59 balls. Jackpots still start at £2 million and can be rolled over up to five times before a draw must be won a sixth time.
Allwyn has previously said the updated game is expected to double the number of Lotto millionaires from 140 to around 345 a year, and the odds of winning a prize will increase from 1 in 9.3 to 1 in 4.9.
