Thunderball (Lottery) - 180,000 winning tickets tonight!

[trainophile]

I don't play the Lottery in any shape or form nowadays, but when the results come up after the 10.00pm News it frequently seems that several thousand tickets have won one or other of the various lotteries they run these days (I've lost track). Then on other occasions there are no winning tickets.

Surely 180,000 people don't all coincidentally pick the same numbers? What is their prize? 50p each? Seems a bit odd to me. Anyone understand how this happens so often?

 

[ainsworth74]

I believe, depending on the game, there are prizes for matching a certain number of the winning sequence. So if the winning numbers were 1 2 3 4 5 6 then you'd get the jackpot if you chose all six numbers for your ticket. On the other hand if your chose say 2 4 5 you'd get a smaller prize as you chose three of the winning numbers.

So that means that 180,000 didn't all choose the same numbers but they will have chosen at least some of the winning numbers.

 

[trainophile]

It just seems a strange way of saying it then. They make it sound like there is only one level of prize, and thousands of tickets have won it.

With the main Lotto they say "one (or sometimes 2, 3 or 4, not usually more) ticket has won the jackpot of £*** million", or "there are no jackpot winners".

It's the fact that there is no in-between - either hundreds of thousands have "won" or none at all. Must be disappointing if you check your ticket and see you have several winning numbers, only to find you have to share the prize with 179,999 other people!

 

[SS4]

I don't believe you share the prizes in Thunderball. Implying that a lot of winners means a lot of jackpot winners is simply misleading but what advertising isn't?

The prizes are staggered depending on what you match. Here's the full list
but of interest the easiest prizes to obtain are:

Thunderball only
1 number + Thunderball
2 numbers + Thunderball

The main numbers (from which you select 5) are 1 to 39 and the thunderball (of which you pick 1) from 1 to 14.

Thus you have a 1 in 14 (7.14%) chance of matching the Thunderball and winning £3.

To get the next prize you must match one number: My maths is a little rusty and I was never any good at stats but I think you have a 1/39 +1/38 + 1/37 + 1/36 + 1/35 = 1558379/11515141 or 13.5% (thanks Wolfram!). But don't forget the Thunderball which is still 1 in 14 and must be multiplied for an overall chance of 0.967%


This is still quite likely mind - the takeaway is that with a large number of tickets sold it's not unusual to get a lot of winners.

 

[ainsworth74]

What's going to make you more likely to hand over your money even though your chances of winning anything let alone the jackpot are remote? The chance to win £50 or £5 million? It's pure advertising that's why they play up the jackpot to the exclusion of any of the prizes.

 

[trainophile]

Thanks both, that has clarified it somewhat. Glad I don't bother with it, far too complicated.

 

[ainsworth74]

Thanks both, that has clarified it somewhat. Glad I don't bother with it, far too complicated.

It's only complicated when you try and work out your actual chance of winning If all you want to do is hand over your money and get your ticket then it's very easy (after all you've got to be in it to win it :roll. Probably why it's very popular despite for the majority of people being a complete waste of money (because if you do win it isn't a waste any more)!

 

[trainophile]

I'll stick with Premium Bonds .

 

[ainsworth74]

I'll stick with Premium Bonds.

Probably a more sensible investment!

 

[SS4]

I'll stick with Premium Bonds .

Sounds like a plan to me

 

[ainsworth74]

Perhaps we need to set up a sister website:

MoneyUK
(Brought to you by RailUK)

 

[crispy1978]

118,000 winners tonight on the Thunderball - that's all winners from the jackpot down to purely the Thunderball.

Source: http://lottery.merseyworld.com/Thunderball/archive/Lott1826.html

 

[Kite159]

The good things with the Thunderball over the regular lottery is that the odds of winning a prize are less and you know what prize you will be getting if you are lucky enough to get 4 numbers (compared to the shared prize fund used by the regular lottery where only £25 for 3 balls is a sure amount).

The jackpot is less at £500,000, but half a million is enough for the majority of people as a sizable sum of money/

 

[flymo]

Out of curiosity... of the 189,803 "winning tickets" for the draw on Sat 7 Nov there were:

1st prize (5 + Thunderball) = 0 winners
2nd prize (5) = 5
3rd prize (4 + T) = 44
4th prize (4) = 715
5th prize (3 + T) = 1589
6th prize (3) = 24608
7th prize (2 + T) = 16867
8th prize (1 + T) = 66900
9th prize (0 + T) = 79075

Source

 

[DaleCooper]

I'll stick with Premium Bonds .

Me too, you only have to buy a ticket once. Oddly enough I haven't had a payout from them for ages, I used to get £50 once or twice a year, I suppose it's due to the low Bank of England interest rate.

 

[trainophile]

Me too, you only have to buy a ticket once. Oddly enough I haven't had a payout from them for ages, I used to get £50 once or twice a year, I suppose it's due to the low Bank of England interest rate.

Also it depends how many you have. I have £3,000 worth, but have only had a couple of £25 prizes in the last couple of years. I used to get excited when I saw a brown envelope with a Glasgow postmark, but then they dropped the lowest prize from £50 to £25 so it's hardly life-changing .

Still, £25 is probably more than the interest I'd get on the same amount in a 'safe' place!

 

[SS4]

Also it depends how many you have. I have £3,000 worth, but have only had a couple of £25 prizes in the last couple of years. I used to get excited when I saw a brown envelope with a Glasgow postmark, but then they dropped the lowest prize from £50 to £25 so it's hardly life-changing .

Still, £25 is probably more than the interest I'd get on the same amount in a 'safe' place!

Probably is. Sadly I've never won a penny on the premium bonds albeit with only a modest sum of £200. Still more likely than winning the lottery I guess.

 

[maniacmartin]

Premium bonds are about on par with savings accounts in terms of average winnings vs interest.

However, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, then Premium bonds are more attractive as unlike savings accounts the winnings are tax-free, so they are a better choice.

 

[Bald Rick]

Premium bonds are about on par with savings accounts in terms of average winnings vs interest.

However, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, then Premium bonds are more attractive as unlike savings accounts the winnings are tax-free, so they are a better choice.

Except that average winnings include the value of the jackpot. Which you are very unlikely to win as an individual. Take that out of the equation and they are not attractive at all.

(says he who won £50 in 1975 and not a bean since).

 

[DaleCooper]

Except that average winnings include the value of the jackpot. Which you are very unlikely to win as an individual. Take that out of the equation and they are not attractive at all.

They are certainly not a sound investment if you want to earn regular interest but if you have a bit of cash to spare it makes a lot more sense than buying lottery tickets. For one thing you can always cash them in, try that with a lotto ticket.