Biggest ever National Lottery jackpot prize fund must be won on Saturday

Wednesday’s rollover means an estimated £57.8 million prize has to be won in this Saturday’s draw.

The National Lottery jackpot has ballooned to an incredible £57.8 million after its 13th rollover on Wednesday.

It’s the seventh week the prize has gone unclaimed as no player has been able to match the six numbers needed to win.

The winning numbers for Wednesday, were 8, 30, 40, 50, 54, 57 and the bonus ball was 13.

In the lead up to the mid-week draw there was a surge in ticket sales. Camelot reported it sold about 200 tickets per second in the hour before sales closed, but players taking a punt were left disappointed.

But there’s another chance to win big. The prize fund up for grabs in this Saturday’s draw will be the biggest ever offered by the game.

Should no one get all six numbers on Saturday, the jackpot won’t be rolled over again but will be shared out with players on the next prize level where there is at least one winner.

This is most likely to be the next tier down, which means those that have matched five numbers plus the bonus ball.

Changes to the game

Camelot – which runs the National Lottery – introduced new rules in October to increase the number of rollovers permitted.

The number of balls used in the draw was increased from 49 to 59, making it more difficult to win the jackpot and leading to more rollovers of the prize fund money.

It also changed the rules around rollovers. Previously there could only be four rollovers. But now a rollover is only limited to when the prize money reaches or exceeds £50 million.

This happened on Wednesday when the jackpot reached a then record £52.9 million, which means it can’t roll over again on Saturday and must be shared out with any winners from the next prize level.

The odds of winning

The odds of matching six numbers in Saturday’s draw is around 45 million to one.

However, the odds of picking five numbers and the bonus ball are much better at 7.5 million to one.

In Wednesday’s draw two people managed to get five numbers plus the bonus to scoop £149,800 each.

Record jackpot

Should a player match all six numbers this week it will be the biggest lottery win ever.

As it stands the biggest ever Lotto jackpot was won in 1995 by colleagues Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings who took home £22.5 million.

The biggest ever individual Lotto winner is Iris Jeffrey from Belfast who won £20.1 million in 2004.

In January 1996 a prize of £42 million was up for grabs, but this was split between three winners.

If a ticketholder wins the entire jackpot on Saturday the National Lottery says they will be richer than Adele, who is thought to be worth £50 million, Andy Murray (worth £48 million) and Rory Mcllroy (worth £38 million).

How to play

If you fancy trying your luck on the Lotto this week you will need to buy a ticket to enter the draw.

You need to choose six numbers between one and 59. Each line of six numbers costs £2. Matching all six numbers will win you the jackpot.

If you are struggling to come up with your own numbers, you can go for the lucky dip option which randomly selects numbers for you to play.

You can buy your ticket in your local newsagent, supermarket, Post Offices and shops showing the crossed fingers logo or head online.

Lotto ticket sales close from 7:30pm on Saturday.

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