The not so 'National' lottery anymore.

mex

mex

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I don't know if this has been done on here yet, but Camelot has been sold to a Canadian pension company. I wonder does that mean that the profit will no longer go to good causes, instead will it go to the new owners coffers?.....the later me thinks.
 
I think you'll find that you're looking at news around 5-6 years old on this. I understand the license requires a set amount to gp t The Big Lottrty fund, etc, although suspect that the recent price hike and increase in numbers is to ensure a better return to the pension fund, more chance of winning something but less chance of winning the jackpot with consequently increased numbers of roll overs and more temporary flutters as the rolled over jackpot increases.
 
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The "profit" has never gone to good causes.
 
You can give your money directly to good causes. The chances of you winning are teeny tiny. Most people who do the lottery, lose every time.
 
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And to think back a few years now, was it Branson/Virgin that offered to run the lottery as non-profit?

(we've stopped doing it, so not contributing anymore)
 
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Camelot operating budget is only 5%. The rest is down to the lottery commission.
 
OldCarlos said:
Was is that in £'s ?
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Why does that matter, the fact is that with the why it's set up actually the profit is 0.5% of sales(turn over) okay it's 0.5% of quite a large number but it's still not a lot really when considering that good causes gets 52 x more than the company owners make, and customers (players) receive back in prizes 100 times the profits etc...I've never really got the apprent resentment of companies being profitable (okay you maybe aren't saying that)
 
OldCarlos said:
And to think back a few years now, was it Branson/Virgin that offered to run the lottery as non-profit?

(we've stopped doing it, so not contributing anymore)
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Branson is exceptional at PR truly world class at it in fact, but at the time it was proved in court his proposal just wasn't sustainable..
 
I see that its 42.2 million today, unheard of, before they added the extra numbers!
And curiously its a higher prize than the Euro one at present!

So lets get this straight, sometime ago, the doubled the stake, and just recently increased the odds of winning quite substantially!
I'll dabble now again, when its an obscene amount of money ( like tonight) but I wonder if people will start to not play anymore?
 
neil_g said:
£42M?

well thats gotta be worth a couple of lines.

£30M on the Euro?

that too.
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TBH I'd be inclined to double my stake on the UK one, there are less people in the UK than in Europe
and its a higher prize too:D
 
Cobra said:
I see that its 42.2 million today, unheard of, before they added the extra numbers!
And curiously its a higher prize than the Euro one at present!

So lets get this straight, sometime ago, the doubled the stake, and just recently increased the odds of winning quite substantially!
I'll dabble now again, when its an obscene amount of money ( like tonight) but I wonder if people will start to not play anymore?
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3 lines for tonight just purchased....now if I disappear mysteriously for a few weeks don't worry :P
 
MWHCVT said:
3 lines for tonight just purchased....now if I disappear mysteriously for a few weeks don't worry :p
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For a few weeks???? I'd vanish totally :D
 
Cobra said:
For a few weeks???? I'd vanish totally :D
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Nah wouldn't though just to see who started to moan first I'd maybe sit and offer to buy everything in classifieds :P
 
If you look at the prize breakdowns you see how dismal the jackpots are. They hiked the prices to increase jackpots. They're still often a few million and only gain a couple on a Wednesday and probably 4 on a Saturday. I think people already are not bothering. The euromillions has easier to win prizes and regularly has better jackpots. It's even worse now the lotto is £2. The odds of getting any prize at all are reduced and the pay outs even for several numbers aren't worth bothering with at all.

Last lotto draw. Match 5 was just over a grand each. Honestly. Draw before 5+ bonus was £85k. It was regularly several hundred K per winner in the old days. With inflation and house prices it's not representative of the rarity of winning it any more.

Last euromillions by contrast was about £200k for 5+ bonus match 5 was about £28k (similar odds)

If you are daft enough to play the lottery (which a lot of people are) you may as well be smart enough to stick with Euromillions and give yourself the better odds!
 
Cobra said:
I see that its 42.2 million today, unheard of, before they added the extra numbers!
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No coincidence then that the stake is doubled and with the extra balls added the likelyhood of anyone winning a jackpot has gone from a fairly unreasonable 1 in 14 million to a very unreasonable 1 in 45 million, the jackpots will just get bigger and bigger every week until some bright spark decides that the un-winable toot will have to be given back to the punters (ROFL). If you really want to gamble your money,then surely a scratch card offers you the best chance of a win? at least the odds are printed on them.
 
ianp5a said:
What? With a fiver?
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get on a bus and get disorientated? could certainly get lost for awhile that way :D

srichards said:
The euromillions has easier to win prizes and regularly has better jackpots.
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The prizes start at £2.60p ( iirc) for the euro. and £25 for the UK one, apart from the addition of the "free" lucky dip.
And recent weeks the UK one has had a far better jackpot.
So as above "today" its a better bet. Next week it may not be.
 
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I used to spend a tenner, maybe every couple of weeks, when it was a pound a line. When they put the price up to £2, I stopped playing and instead took my tenner into the local casino when I finished work and punted it on either red or black; one spin only and walked out, win or lose. I won a lot more doing this than I did the lotto.
 
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srichards said:
If you are daft enough to play the lottery (which a lot of people are) you may as well be smart enough to stick with Euromillions and give yourself the better odds!
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Why is it daft? There is a possibility I may win a life changing amount, that isn't going to happen by not playing.
 
nilagin said:
Why is it daft? There is a possibility I may win a life changing amount, that isn't going to happen by not playing.
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Exactly this.
Some would say that spending thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) on photographic equipment on which most will never see a return, is also "daft".
No one is forced to play. No one is misled...the odds of a lotto win are freely available to all. There's no rip off.
I, like many, only have a go on silly money.
It's a couple of quid I otherwise don't miss.
 
nilagin said:
Why is it daft? There is a possibility I may win a life changing amount, that isn't going to happen by not playing.
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43 million to one chance of a jackpot win. It is unlikely to happen by playing it either. The odds are only slightly better ;)
 
viv1969 said:
Exactly this.
Some would say that spending thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) on photographic equipment on which most will never see a return, is also "daft".
No one is forced to play. No one is misled...the odds of a lotto win are freely available to all. There's no rip off.
I, like many, only have a go on silly money.
It's a couple of quid I otherwise don't miss.
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Exactly, the only time it becomes daft is when you base your life around getting that big win. If it happens, it happens, if not C'est la vie and a few good causes have benefitted along the way.
 
srichards said:
43 million to one chance of a jackpot win. It is unlikely to happen by playing it either. The odds are only slightly better ;)
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I can afford that 43m-1 chance, it's no big deal and even at those odds, it's a much better chance than no chance.
 
Good for you :)don't spend it all at once ...
 
nilagin said:
I can afford that 43m-1 chance, it's no big deal and even at those odds, it's a much better chance than no chance.
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I'm not criticising here, but if you were to walk into a bookies and see a horse in a race with odds of 43000000 :1 would you put a £1 on it?
 
mex said:
I'm not criticising here, but if you were to walk into a bookies and see a horse in a race with odds of 43000000 :1 would you put a £1 on it?
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If I knew that 95 pence of my point went to a good cause at that bookie then yes I would.
 
mex said:
I'm not criticising here, but if you were to walk into a bookies and see a horse in a race with odds of 43000000 :1 would you put a £1 on it?
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ive not had enough coffee yet. but wouldnt a better analogy be a race with 43M runners? assuming they all had equal form. and none ran the risk of going lame. and none could ever fall at a jump.
 
mex said:
I'm not criticising here, but if you were to walk into a bookies and see a horse in a race with odds of 43000000 :1 would you put a £1 on it?
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Why not? It's only a quid, but as said above, highly unlikely odds to be offered. At least with the lottery, other prizes can be won and I do win and reasonably often too, ok they are small and go towards future draws, but it's all harmless fun and money I don't miss or rely upon.
 
Many years ago my Dad said the best way to look at the odds of winning the jackpot were roughly/something like;
Put £10k per week on for the next 80yrs & you should be ok.
 
Lucky dip here too. :-)
 
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