Rush for Lotto tickets as jackpot hits record £50m amid prospect of 'easier' win

Rush: Lotto tickets are set to be in high demand this week as players seek a £50 million fortune
Jamie Bullen5 January 2016

Demand for lottery tickets could reach unprecedented levels this week as punters try to get their hands on a record prize fund of more than £50 million.

Wednesday’s National Lottery rollover jackpot stands at an estimated £50.4 million after Saturday’s £46.5 million sum went unclaimed.

The sum is the highest Lotto jackpot ever.

And interest has been heightened by the fact that odds on winning the money could drop significantly thanks to new rules.

Under the guidelines introduced in October, if the jackpot is not collected on Wednesday the cash will trickle down to the next tier of players, those with five numbers and the bonus ball, on Saturday.

A spokeswoman for Camelot, the National Lottery operator, told the Telegraph: "The largest Lotto jackpot the nation has ever seen is waiting to be won by someone in the UK.

“If a single ticketholder wins Wednesday's estimated £50.4m jackpot, they will be the biggest Lotto jackpot winner ever.

“If the jackpot is not taken on Wednesday and exceeds £50 million, as predicted, then it needs to be won.

“If there is no jackpot winner on Saturday, too, the jackpot fund will roll down to the next tier where there is at least one winner.

“So, it will roll down to five numbers plus the bonus ball, and if no-one wins at that level, it will then trickle down to the next one.”

The previous highest jackpot was £42 million jackpot in 1996 – which was shared by three winners.

The biggest cheque on a single ticket was won by work colleagues Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings, Sussex, when they shared £22.5 million in 1996 .

According to The Sunday Times Rich List 2015, if a player won Wednesday's entire jackpot their wealth would be on a par with Adele, worth an estimated £50 million, while they would be wealthier than sports stars Andy Murray and Rory McIlroy, believed to be worth £48 million and £38 million respectively.

The last Lotto win was in mid-November.

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