Lotto players urged to check their tickets after TWO lucky punters scooped £1m each…despite no one winning the jackpot
NATIONAL Lottery players are urged to check their tickets after two lucky winners bagged more than £1million each, even though no one won the jackpot.
Last night’s jackpot prize stood at a cool £20m but no one matched all six numbers in the draw.
But two lucky players matched five numbers and the bonus ball to win £1,159,871.
The winning numbers were 4, 12, 19, 20, 24 and 42 and the crucial bonus ball was 17.
The draw came after a lotto expert claimed players would have the best chance of winning the golden ticket yesterday.
Gambler Richard Brocklebank, known as The Squirrel, has landed more than £14m for his syndicates and uses mathematics to calculate the odds and viability of any punts.
And the lotto whizz said that the Bank Holiday £20m Must Be Won draw could pay out big time.
This is because the rules changed in 2020 giving bigger pay-outs for smaller wins if the jackpots roll down, which seven of the ten Must Be Won draws since have done.
Under normal circumstances a £2 lottery ticket is expected to return a long-term average of less than 90p.
But when you play a Must Be Won draw the expected value of the ticket can be actually greater than the £2 it costs – and you don’t even need all six balls to net a decent profit.
With these type of draws, when there is no outright winner, the jackpot rolls down and all the lower prizes are enhanced.
Richard, from Hyde, Cheshire, said before the draw: “The weekend’s £20M Must Be Won Lotto draw on Easter Saturday 8th April, is the time to be playing some extra lines, as there is a great chance of wins being enhanced.”
The Squirrel Syndicate’s biggest single Scoop6 return was in March 2009 when their selection Russian Trigger won the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter for a then record bonus dividend of £3.1m.
The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19, 1994 when seven winners shared a jackpot of £5,874,778.
The largest amount ever to be won by a single ticket holder was £42m, won in 1996.
Gareth Bull, a 49-year-old builder, won £41m in November, 2020 and ended up knocking down his bungalow to make way for a luxury manor house with a pool.
Sue Davies, 64, bought a lottery ticket to celebrate ending five months of shielding during the pandemic — and won £500,000.
Sandra Devine, 36, accidentally won £300k – she intended to buy her usual £100 National Lottery Scratchcard, but came home with a much bigger prize.
The biggest jackpot ever to be up for grabs was £66m in January last year, which was won by two lucky ticket holders.
Another winner, Karl managed to bag £11m aged just 23 in 1996.
The odds of winning the lottery are estimated to be about one in 14m.