“It Could Be You” is the slogan of Camelot’s National Lottery advertising campaign, and often it has been someone in Wales to take home the prize. Wales has had a fair share of lucky lottery winners, the area known as the “Gwent Triangle” in South Wales is the home of twelve big lottery winners, and is known as the luckiest area in Britain. But what are the odds of winning? Let’s look into it in more detail.
Transnational, National, and Local Lotteries
What are the differences between each type? Well, the most popular transnational lottery played in the UK is no doubt the Euromillions. The Euromillions has been running since 2004, with draws taking place on Tuesdays and Fridays each week. Five numbers between 1 – 50, and two lucky stars between 1 – 12 are drawn, players are awarded prizes for matching two numbers upwards. The odds of winning the jackpot stand at 1 in 139,838,160. How do these odds stack up with national and local lotteries? Let’s compare.
What Are the Odds of Winning in Wales?
The National Lottery, also known as the Lotto, is the state-franchised national lottery run by Camelot, open to anyone over eighteen in the UK. The Lotto draws take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 45,057,474. The odds aren’t amazing – it is more likely for someone to be crushed by a meteorite than securing the Lotto jackpot. But still, there is more chance of securing a national lottery jackpot than a transnational lottery, like the Euromillions.
However, there is another lottery that can be entered into in Wales. Loteri Cymru, is the all-Wales lottery. It costs £1 a week to enter, and it raises money for Welsh charities and creates winners across the country. The jackpot is capped at £25,000, not as high as the National Lottery or Euromillions, but the odds of winning are much better at 1 in 1,000,000.
Is it True What They Say About the Luck of the Irish?
The most popular lotteries entered by players in Wales are the Euromillions, the National Lottery, and Loteri Cymru. But it is also possible for players in Wales to enter the lottery in Ireland. Ireland is associated with lucky shamrocks and leprechauns who hide pots of gold at the end of rainbows – but are the odds of winning the lottery better there?
The Irish Lottery odds are 1 in 10,737, 573 to win the jackpot; significantly better than the Euromillions odds and also better than the UK National Lottery. The Irish Lotto is the national lottery of Ireland; but players can enter it from anywhere in the world, even Wales.
Of course, the jackpot is not the only prize up for grabs. All three main types of lottery, transnational, national, and local will pay out smaller prizes, for example, Irish Lotto players will be able to claim a prize for matching two numbers and a bonus, Euromillions and National Lotto for matching two numbers. To find out more about the odds of winning any prize on the lottery in this article, detailed breakdowns can be found online.