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Lotto Jackpot of £20 Million Must Be Won on Saturday 17th July


Updated: Tuesday 6th July 2021

A special summer draw will take place on Saturday 17th July, with the jackpot pushed up to £20 million for one of the biggest Lotto events of the year. The jackpot must be won, so millions of players could be rewarded with larger prizes than usual.

Joint-Highest Jackpot of 2021

Under the current rules, the Lotto jackpot can only roll over five times before it has to be won in the following draw, so it regularly reaches around £12 million or £13 million and then rolls down to lower levels.  

From time to time, though, the National Lottery holds special draws in which the jackpot is increased to a guaranteed amount on a pre-determined date. This gives you the chance to play for some of the biggest prizes you will ever see on Lotto, without having to wait for a run of five rollovers.

The £20 million jackpot will be put up for grabs on 17th July regardless of what happens in the preceding draw, with money from the Reserve Fund being used to pay for the promotion. Match all six main numbers and you will win, or share, the full eight-figure prize.

Only one Lotto player has landed as much as £20 million since the start of 2021, and that came back on 9th January.

Bigger Rolldown Prizes

The other main attraction of a £20 million jackpot is that it can create bigger rolldown prizes if there are no tickets that match all six numbers. With a larger prize fund than a regular Must Be Won draw, there is more to go around.

The last time a £20 million jackpot was guaranteed to be won, on 22nd May, all of the Match 3 winners received £106 instead of the fixed £30 payout that is available in a normal draw.

The value of prizes in a rolldown depends on how winners there are, with a percentage of the prize fund allocated to each category and then split evenly between players. 

You can get involved in the Must Be Won draw by visiting an authorised National Lottery retailer or taking part online.

Published: Tuesday 6th July 2021

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