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The National Lottery’s 25th Birthday Draws


Updated: Friday 15th November 2019

The National Lottery has organised a host of special draws and games to celebrate its 25th anniversary. A new scratchcard will give you a good chance to win £25 and there will also be exciting Lotto and EuroMillions events later in the year.

The National Lottery launched in 1994, with its first draw taking place on 19th November 1994. The money from ticket sales since then has generated more than £40 billion for good causes, whilst even more has been given away in prize money. Now 25 years old, the milestone is set to be marked in style by Camelot, which has operated the lottery since the start.

Announcing the upcoming promotions, a spokesperson for Camelot said: “Whether you have been selling for a year or 25 years, retailers are at the heart of what we do. It’s only because of retailers that the National Lottery has made it to 25 years, and we are running events that will help drive sales in your store.” 

25th Birthday Scratchcard

A special scratchcard called ‘£250,000 Birthday’ has already been launched and is marked by the National Lottery as a ‘25th Birthday Edition’ and the ‘best chance to win £25 on our scratchcards’. Overall, the odds of winning a prize are 1 in 4.04 and there are 12 top prizes of £250,000.

There are three main games, plus a Bonus game, and you have to match symbols to captions to win the corresponding prize amounts. The overall value of all the prizes added together is more than £101 million.

The National Lottery has a wide range of scratchcards, themed around everything from Monopoly to Love Island. These instant games are simple to play and give you the chance to win prizes without having to wait for a draw.

£25 Million Must Be Won Lotto Jackpot

The 25th birthday celebrations will continue with a special Lotto draw on 23rd November. The jackpot for the big event is set to be increased to £25 million, an amount that has not been seen on the game all year following changes to the rollover rule in November 2018.

To add to the excitement, it will likely be a Must Be Won draw, in which case the jackpot is guaranteed to be given away. That means the top prize will roll down and be shared between winners in other categories if no ticket matches all six main numbers. 

The exact payout for Must Be Won draws depends on how many tickets are sold and the number of winners. However, you could end up with more than £100 just for matching three numbers or more than £500 in the Match 4 category.

25 EuroMillions UK Millionaires

In addition to the new scratchcard and the Must Be Won Lotto draw, a EuroMillions extravaganza is set to create 25 UK millionaires on one night. A special UK Millionaire Maker raffle will take place on 8th November 2019, in which 25 winning codes will be selected, rather than the usual one.

You are automatically entered into UK Millionaire Maker whenever you play EuroMillions, with a random code generated for each line of numbers you enter. The cost of playing Millionaire Maker is included in the price of the ticket and it gives you another chance to win a massive prize. The odds of winning improve considerably in these special events when multiple winners are guaranteed.

Camelot is set to tour UK stores as the 25th birthday of the National Lottery approaches, highlighting how much each retailer has raised for good causes. You can continue to play games throughout the week as the big day draws nearer.

Published: Monday 12th August 2019

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