Loss of Millionaire Raffle rankles Scots
The United Kingdom National Lottery is facing a boycott from outraged Scottish players who branded the Lotto game's prize draw an "absolute con" after lottery operator Camelot changed its rules.
Lotto bosses have come under fire for scrapping the Lotto Millionaire Raffle — which awarded a £1 million payout twice a week.
Since the canceled game add-on was a raffle and not a lotto draw, there was a guaranteed £1 million prize winner every drawing, rather than just a possibility of a winner.
Now, players must match five balls plus the bonus ball to win the £1 million. Matching five balls without the bonus ball will see them win £17,750, while four balls bags £140.
Rollover rules have also changed. The jackpot was capped at £22 million under the old format, at which point a rollover was allowed one more time.
But new rules mean it will only roll-over five times before it has to be won.
Furious players said the draw is "clearly a rip off", with one Scottish player saying, "We have more chance of nailing a blancmange to the ceiling [than winning]." (Editor: I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds pretty difficult.)
Responding to the backlash, Camelot chiefs say bigger cash prizes are available in the main game because of the changes, adding that the smallest win has increased from £25 to £30 if players match three balls.
In a lottery forum post titled Grabalot National Connery, fuming player Gerald wrote, "An absolute con now they have ruined the lottery added more numbers to Lotto which has decreased the chances of winning the main prize and the lower tiers are pathetic."
Gerald's anger may have him confused, since there was no increase in the number of balls in the lotto tumbler.
Ian Papap wrote, "It used to be possible to at least win SOMETHING. It has got worse over the years but now it is ridiculous.
"With a standing order [subscription], the payouts never quite kept pace with the costs but in the last 6 months I haven't won a penny.
"This is my last month of standing order as it's clearly a rip-off. Bye."
And Graham Barnett wrote, "Lotto, Euro, Scratch Cards, Online Instant Win Games, all daylight robbery. We have more chance of nailing a blancmange to the ceiling."
The National Lottery apologized to players after they hit out at the company on Twitter.
A statement read, "The recent enhancements made to Lotto mean bigger cash prizes and more Jackpot winners!
"We've listened to feedback from people (players, non-players, retailers) and have, in turn, returned Lotto back to its roots.
"We want lots of people to play a little, rather than a few playing a lot, it's our guiding principle.
"Around 60% of UK adults play our games and encouraging Responsible Play is at the heart of everything we do."
Camelot chief executive Nigel Railton said, "It was clear from the review that we needed to create a more appealing and balanced range of games that offers something for everyone."
Blancmange hunh ?..... "A sweet gelatinous desert made with cornstarch and milk"..My bet is they use the real deal and not that Fufu 1% stuff
They use double cream too. Can’t get that stuff here.
Sounds yummy!
But quite difficult to nail one of those to the ceiling!
If something isn't broken, why try to fix it?
People were happy with the game before they changed it. Why mess with it?
Do you think they will revert it back to the way it was before the change?
TMM... you mean similar to the MM doubling the price to equal the PB or raising the odds ?
It is all about the $$$ and you winning less.
Cash5 in NC "used" to have a decent shot at a win. They added another number and odds increased from approx 1:750k to 1:962k and then increased the staring jackpot from 50k to 100k KNOWING people win not win it as often.
NC draw games are just rigged more than ever, all in the interest of bigger profits and smaller payouts.
Lessons from the Boston Tea Party!
Complaining won't change anything.
It's a done deal.
Lotteries never admit they made a mistake.
They never take a step back.
All players can do is:
1. Quit playing.
2. Accept and adjust.
Ain't life great??
Players aren't complaining they are quiting that's what this says
The fact is these outfits don’t care. They counting on players having short memory spans. Sooner, rather than later, players return. lt may take awhile, but they will be back, hoping to win.
If the regulars stop playing then they are in trouble otherwise NOT...Regualrs are the ones these lotteries are surviving on
These changes don't sound that bad. I wish our lotteries did roll-downs after a certain number of roll-overs.
"We've listened to feedback from people (players, non-players, retailers) and have, in turn, returned Lotto back to its roots.
Why in the world would they listen to people that don't play the lottery?
They probably asked them what is needed to get them to play.
That's a valid question, but we only have their word, that they asked non players what they thoughts were, on what was needed. When things go South, their defense can always be " but we did ask people."
What the Scots need, is a William Wallace type of character to lead the charge against Camelot.
Exactly.
.
I'm appalled by this, as I usually am when our own PB and MM matrixes change.
(or is it "matri", "matrices" ? there we go, no red underline.)
Anyway, from Todd's article above, toward the end,
the Brits make a disturbing statement to the effect of:
"We want lots of people to play a little, rather than a few playing a lot, it's our guiding principle."
What a bunch of hors d'oeuvre (horse doovers).
We are all greedy and the only honest ones are those who don't claim to be posing as a special moral entity: who are indeed feeding on joe-bloke-citizen, wishing for a few extra sheep in his humble Monty Python-esq yard.
Just finish up your Brexit thing, fix your lotto games, so people there, across the pond, don't go nuts and torch Big Ben. . . .
Mr. Groppo
"We want lots of people to play a little, rather than a few playing a lot, it's our guiding principle."
Ask yourself why is that?
Maybe because the the ones that play a little are the players that only buy a few tickets when the jackpots are super high. Or who only play QP's rather than their own numbers on the smaller games, and have zero knowledge about lotteries in general. They are probably looked at as, "a fool and his money are soon parted"... Ie, big bucks for them.
While the few that play a lot, are most likely far more "lottery savvy," and will have strategies and methods to help them win. And will know what and when to play. Kind of like us here.
Any time one of our state lotteries decides to change operators, or the games themselves, they do it on the promise of more sales and a big increase in profits.
"We want lots of people to play a little, rather than a few playing a lot, it's our guiding principle." Sounds like it applies here in the states too.
What UK Lotto really wants is that the few who play a lot to keep playing a lot, and that the lots who play never or a little start playing a little bit more.
I like the rollover part if I am understanding it correctly. It means that after 5 draws they must have winner. To me that is better and will mean more jackpots won
In Illinois our lotto which starts at $2M and adds $250k each rollover finally was won after rolling up to $22.5M. I would love a system that caps amount of rollovers
I would rather see more smaller jackpots won then rare jackpot wins of bigger pots