WINNING tonight's record £50.4 million UK Lotto jackpot would put you ahead of Belfast's Iris Jeffrey as the biggest ever individual Lotto winner.
The record jackpot – which Camelot has promised will be won or shared out on Saturday – is seeing a surge in ticket sales.
National Lottery operator Camelot said it expects to sell 200 tickets a second during the hour before today’s draw. The huge pot has eclipsed the previous highest jackpot – £42 million, shared by three winners in 1996.
The biggest cheque won on a single Lotto ticket was £22.5 million shared by work colleagues Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings in 1995. And the biggest ever individual Lotto winner? Iris Jeffrey from Belfast, who won £20.1 million in 2004.
Wednesday’s jackpot is the result of 13 consecutive rollovers. It follows the number of balls in the draw increasing from 49 to 59 in October. This reduces the odds on a player’s six numbers coming up from around one in 14 million to one in 45 million.
The move has not been popular with all players, but Camelot has claimed the “enhancements” actually give a better chance of winning and better odds of becoming a millionaire.
And if no-one wins the jackpot today or Saturday, Camelot will enact new regulations which stipulate that it must be shared out.
