How to Play UK Lotto & EuroMillions
A plain-English guide to how the two biggest UK draw games work — from buying a ticket and choosing numbers, to understanding every prize tier and the real odds behind each game. This page is for information only; it is not gambling advice and we don’t sell tickets.
UK National Lottery (Lotto) explained
Lotto is the UK National Lottery’s flagship draw game, run under licence by Allwyn (which took over from Camelot in 2024). To play a single line you choose 6 numbers from 1 to 59. During the draw, six main balls and one bonus ball are drawn from the same machine. The bonus ball only matters for one specific prize tier (see below).
- Draw days: every Wednesday and Saturday evening (UK time).
- Ticket price: £2 per line.
- Number pool: 6 main numbers drawn from 1–59, plus a bonus ball.
- Minimum age: you must be 18 or over to buy a ticket in the UK.
Lotto also runs occasional “Must Be Won” draws. If the jackpot isn’t won outright on one of these draws, the prize money “rolls down” and is shared among players in the lower tiers, which can make smaller prizes much larger than usual for that single draw.
Lotto prize tiers
| Match | Typical prize | Approx. odds (per line) |
|---|---|---|
| Match 6 | Jackpot (varies, rolls over) | 1 in 45,057,474 |
| Match 5 + bonus | £1,000,000 | 1 in 7,509,579 |
| Match 5 | £1,750 | 1 in 144,415 |
| Match 4 | £140 | 1 in 2,180 |
| Match 3 | £30 | 1 in 97 |
| Match 2 | A free Lucky Dip line | 1 in 10.3 |
Prize values shown are the standard fixed amounts at the time of writing; jackpots and “Must Be Won” rolldowns vary. Always confirm current prizes and odds on the official National Lottery website.
EuroMillions explained
EuroMillions is a transnational game played across nine European countries, including the UK. A single line needs 5 main numbers from 1 to 50 plus 2 “Lucky Stars” from 1 to 12. Because every participating country feeds the same prize pool, EuroMillions jackpots grow far larger than a single national game — but the odds of the top prize are correspondingly longer.
- Draw days: every Tuesday and Friday evening (UK time).
- Ticket price: £2.50 per line in the UK (this includes automatic entry to the UK Millionaire Maker).
- Number pool: 5 main numbers from 1–50 and 2 Lucky Stars from 1–12.
- UK Millionaire Maker: every UK ticket gets a raffle-style code that guarantees at least one new UK millionaire in every draw, independent of the numbers you choose.
How the prize structure works
EuroMillions has 13 prize tiers, from matching just 2 main numbers up to matching all 5 main numbers and both Lucky Stars for the jackpot. Unlike Lotto’s fixed lower prizes, most EuroMillions prizes are pari-mutuel: the pool for each tier is shared between everyone who wins it, so the exact amount changes from draw to draw depending on ticket sales and the number of winners.
- Jackpot (5 + 2 Lucky Stars): approximately 1 in 139,838,160.
- Smallest prize (2 main numbers): approximately 1 in 22 — usually a few pounds.
- There is a jackpot cap; once it is reached, surplus money boosts the next prize tier down.
Ways to pick your numbers
However you select numbers, every combination has exactly the same chance of being drawn. The methods below change the experience of playing, not your odds:
- Lucky Dip / Quick Pick: the terminal or app chooses random numbers for you.
- Personal numbers: birthdays, anniversaries and other meaningful dates. Note that dates only cover 1–31, so they ignore the higher numbers in the pool.
- Statistical approaches: some players look at how often numbers have appeared historically. Our Lotto analysis and EuroMillions analysis pages summarise this draw history, but remember that past frequency does not influence future draws.
- Spreading your picks: choosing a mix of low and high numbers can mean you’re less likely to share a prize, because many players cluster around dates (1–31). It does not improve your chance of winning.
Lotto vs EuroMillions at a glance
| UK Lotto | EuroMillions | |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers to choose | 6 from 1–59 | 5 from 1–50 + 2 Lucky Stars from 1–12 |
| Draw days | Wed & Sat | Tue & Fri |
| Line price (UK) | £2 | £2.50 |
| Jackpot odds | ~1 in 45 million | ~1 in 140 million |
| Prize tiers | 6 | 13 |
Want the maths behind these numbers? See how lottery odds are calculated on our Lotto analysis page.
Checking results and claiming a prize
Results are published shortly after each draw on the official National Lottery website and app, in store, and through licensed retailers. How you claim depends on the amount and where you bought the ticket:
- Small prizes can usually be claimed in store or paid automatically to your online account.
- Larger prizes may need to be claimed directly from the operator, sometimes in person.
- Paper tickets are bearer documents — keep them safe and sign the back. There is a fixed claim window (commonly 180 days from the draw date) after which prizes expire.
Always verify winning numbers against the official source. Tools like this site are for analysis and interest only and should never be used to confirm whether a ticket has won.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Believing numbers are “due”. A number that hasn’t appeared for a long time is no more likely to come up next — each draw is independent.
- Chasing losses. Buying more tickets after a loss doesn’t recover anything; the odds reset every draw.
- Spending more than you can comfortably afford. Treat any ticket as the cost of entertainment, not an investment.
- Forgetting to check older tickets. Prizes do expire, so check promptly.
Play responsibly
Lottery games are a form of gambling. You must be 18 or over to play in the UK. The information here is provided for education and entertainment only and does not improve anyone’s chance of winning. If gambling stops being fun, free confidential help is available 24/7 from BeGambleAware on 0808 8020 133, and the GamStop self-exclusion scheme. See our responsible gambling resources for more.