Christmas Lotto Draw Offers Chance To Win £15 Million
Last Updated: Wednesday 11th November 2020, 12:56
The Lotto draw on Wednesday 25th December is set to make this Christmas particularly special for lucky players, with £15 million to be won in a big festive event. The National Lottery traditionally pulls out all the stops at Christmas to offer something extra, and this year’s draw also forms a part of its 25th birthday celebrations.
£15 Million Must Be Won
There will be a £15 million jackpot on offer in this Christmas promotion and it will take the form of a Must Be Won draw. This means the jackpot will be boosted to £15 million regardless of its value in the previous draw and the money will have to be won on the night.
Must Be Won draws are usually only held after there have been five consecutive rollovers as the rules dictate that the jackpot has to then be given away. However, they are also scheduled to coincide with certain special events, such as the £25 million ‘Birthday Jackpot’ event on Saturday 23rd November.
If no tickets match all six main numbers in a Must Be Won draw, a rolldown occurs and the money is shared out between every other cash winner. The prize for matching three numbers, for example, goes up from the standard £30 payout to around £100 million, while all the other awards also go up significantly.
The exact prizes for a rolldown can only be announced after the draw has been held, once the number of entries sold for the draw and the number of winners in each category has been taken into account.
Big Christmas Lotto Draws
This is the first year since 2013 that Christmas Day has fallen on either a Wednesday or a Saturday, but the National Lottery historically organises a special Lotto event to celebrate the festive season.
A Must Be Won jackpot of £15 million was put up for grabs in last year’s draw on Saturday 22nd December. Two ticket holders matched all the numbers to scoop £7.5 million each so there was no rolldown, but more than 1.6 million other players also picked up prizes.
In 2017 and 2016, the National Lottery offered more prizes than usual in the Lotto Raffle, which used to be played alongside Lotto. The game would award prizes of £20,000 or £1 million to players who matched a raffle number that was automatically generated on their ticket. Go to the Lotto Events page to find out more about special draws that have been held at Christmas and other times over the years.
The festive season has traditionally been a time for big winners. As well as the two players last year who split £15 million, a taxi driver snapped up £24 million on 27th December 2017, another ticket holder scooped £26 million on New Year’s Eve 2016, and over the Christmas period in 2015 the jackpot was building towards its £66 million record.
This year’s Christmas draw promises to be another spectacular event, with the possibility that lots of players will grab a share of the £15 million prize. Use the Lotto Checker afterwards to see if you are a winner.
