National Lottery Set For Overhaul
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 10:41
National Lottery operator Camelot is set to introduce a number of changes in a bid to freshen up its games and bring more excitement to players. The news comes after a wide-ranging review of Camelot’s current offerings, in the wake of falling ticket sales over the past few months.
The review was led by Nigel Railton, who has now been appointed as Camelot’s permanent chief executive following a spell in interim charge. It has resulted in a number of proposals being drawn up for ‘an improved range of games’. The plans include:
Lotto Changes
In a statement confirming the news of Railton’s appointment, Camelot said it ‘plans to make changes’ to Lotto in 2018. The idea is to give players the ‘better winning experience’ they crave and a number of options are being tested. However, there are no plans at the current time to change the price of a ticket or the number of balls in the game.
A New ‘Annuity-Style’ Game
Camelot is also looking into ways to introduce a new game which would provide players with ‘long-term financial security rather than big jackpots’. An ‘annuity-style’ game would see winners rewarded with a smaller amount of money every day, week, month or year, instead of getting a larger one-off payment.
Games such as this are common in other countries. For example, in the USA they have Cash4Life, where players in the top tier can win $1,000 every day for the rest of their lives, while players in the second tier can win $1,000 a week for life. The Australian Set For Life game offers winners AU$20,000 a month for life.
Thunderball Changes
Part of Camelot’s plan is to make each of its games ‘stand out from the crowd - and each other’. A new Tuesday draw is set to be introduced from 30th January for Thunderball, which is currently played on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and as such always clashes with either Lotto or EuroMillions.
EuroMillions HotPicks
Launching in time for the draw on Friday 26th January 2018, EuroMillions HotPicks will be similar to Lotto HotPicks and give players another chance to win prizes of varying amounts.
Awards will range from £10 to £1 million, with players choosing how many numbers they wish to match to win. Take a look at the EuroMillions HotPicks page for more information.
Easier To Play
A £20 million investment has been pledged to help players get involved in games more easily. Systems are being planned to help players buy tickets at self-checkout machines within supermarkets, while the range of online instant win games will also be modified to give players ‘greater choice and better access’ to games.