National lottery

The UK's most popular lottery, excluding the euromillions is the National Lottery, was started in 1994 by the Camelot Group. Unlike the euromillions the National Lottery is only available to players living in the UK.

How to play

Similarly to the euromillions, players must be aged 16 or over, and must select 5 numbers and a bonus ball number when purchasing a national lottery ticket for £1 per board. He or she can opt for a "Lucky Dip", where all six numbers are selected at random- including the bonus ball. Over 40% of the UK population opt into a syndicate. This is where a group of people each buy a Lucky Dip ticket and evenly split the prize money if they win.

 On the night of the draw balls numbered from 1 to 49 in a range of colours are randomly selected from the machine.

 Where do the proceeds go?

For every £1 National Lottery ticket purchased 0.5 pence goes towards profit for Camelot, 4.5p covers the firm's costs, 5p goes towards retailer commission, 12p to the UK government, 28p to charity and 50p goes to the total National Lottery prize fund.

Types of National Lottery games

As well as the larger games such as  the euromillions, Lotto Hotpicks and Thunderball are two of the most popular alternative National Lottery games. The first game involves the same numbers from the main draw, but the player must select 5 lottery numbers and match them to anything from 1 number to all 5 numbers. The chances of winning are significantly higher than playing the National Lottery. The other National Lottery sub-game is Thunderball. This is similar to Euromillions in that it involves picking 5 numbers ranging from 1 to 39 and then picking a "Thunderball" number from 1 to 14. Matching all 6 numbers will result in a £500,000 prize.

National Lottery Prizes

All National Lottery prize money is paid in the form of a tax-free cheque. There are a range of cash prizes ranging from £10 to the jackpot which is usually worth millions of pounds. The minimum amount of balls needed to win is 3. This will be worth £10 per winner. If the player gets 4 numbers then he or she will be eligible for 22% of the prize fund, 5 numbers guarantees 10% of the fund, 5 numbers and the bonus ball secures 16% and all 6 numbers guarantees 52% of the total prize money.

National Lottery Winners

Although the prizes are not as big as the Euromillions prizes, the prizes are still impressive. Winners come in all shapes and sizes from syndicates to individuals. One of the biggest winners was Nigel Page who won £56million. The most infamous National Lottery winner was Michael Carroll who won £9.7million in 2002 and was nicknamed "The Lotto Lout".

Unclaimed National Lottery prizes

Any National Lottery prize must be claimed after the draw within 180 days. To date, there have been 24 unclaimed prizes over £1million.