It’s fair to say that only a few people who play lottery games on a regular basis have ever won a life-changing amount of money, The odds of winning are usually in the millions-to-one; there are only a couple of draws per week, and the prizes on offer aren’t always worth the price of admission. However, a good chunk of the population continue to play at least one game every week.
The appeal of lottery games is enduring – even The Queen played the UK National Lottery on its debut 22 years ago, earning a royal tenner – but the range and quality of lotteries can leave a lot to be desired. Camelot’s flagship Lotto game ran unchanged for nearly two decades, offering an average jackpot payout of £2m.
While that’s hardly a paltry sum, it’s easy to feel short-changed when players in Europe and the United States regularly play for upwards of £200m a time. It’s perhaps no surprise then that entries to Camelot’s Lotto had declined as much as 60% since its inception in 1994. Lottery games needed a rethink.
The advent of the internet and online gaming helped many lotteries make the transition from pen and paper game to digital phenomenon. Players no longer had to visit their local newsagent or supermarket to enter and the risk of losing a winning ticket to the washing machine fell to zero. However, at its core, lottery was still the same old game people had enjoyed for centuries.
Lottoland, a Gibraltar-based company, offers a rare twist on the traditional lottery by allowing players to bet on the outcome of draws around the world, whether that’s the Spanish El Gordo, the United States’ lucrative MegaMillions or the Irish Lottery, which continues to offer low odds of around 29/1.
It sounds more like a technicality than a true twist but the addition of new game features such as larger jackpots and free bets on established lotteries gives players the opportunity to win more for a smaller outlay. Perhaps more importantly, Lottoland matches the payouts advertised by the lotteries themselves.
It’s still not the guaranteed jackpot we’re all hoping for but the ability to buy scratch cards, play instant win games, and ‘pick n’ mix’ draws from Poland, Australia, and other countries does at least translate to more games per week than with Camelot’s current offering.