UK Lotto Weekend Jackpot Tops Initial Estimate
Last Updated: Thursday 5th December 2013, 13:19
The UK Lotto rollover draw which took place on Saturday 8th December 2012 was initially estimated at £6.5 million, and surprised players by coming in at a whopping £7,117,094 on the night. This is a huge £600,000 above initial estimates, and whilst actual jackpots do often vary from the estimates made in the days prior to the draw taking place, they rarely fluctuate to such a degree. But why did the jackpot come in so much higher than anticipated?
The UK Lotto has a pari-mutuel jackpot, which means the jackpot is made up of a proportion of ticket sales. This means the more or less tickets sold the higher or lower the jackpot will be. The UK Lotto bases its estimates on average ticket sales for a specific period. So, for example – the weekend draw is usually played more than the midweek draw, so it will have higher jackpots. Also, when the lottery sees a big jackpot created by multiple rollovers, it also usually sees a direct correlation between more tickets being sold, simply because people like to play the lottery when there is a bigger jackpot on offer!
In the case of this draw, we can safely say that the upcoming festive period will be having an effect on player’s habits. As people spend more money over the Christmas period, they will also enjoy a little flutter on a national lottery – as winning the jackpot or even one of the big secondary prizes would certainly make a big difference to someone’s Christmas! So, it is likely that between now and the big day we will see bigger than usual jackpots on most lotteries, as people strive to be in with a chance of winning a festive treat. And this is good news for everyone!
For a full breakdown of the results for the UK Lotto on Saturday 8th December 2012, visit the Results page – and congratulations to the two jackpot winners who will be sharing that higher than usual jackpot!