National Lottery
The national lottery is the largest lottery in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1994, and has become an extremely popular form of gambling throughout the country. When it began the national lottery was regulated by the Office of The National Lottery (OFLOT). Then, in April 1999, it was handed over to the National Lottery Commission - which is a non-departmental public body.
The UK national lottery is operated by the Camelot Group, a private company owned by five shareholders. Camelot won the license to run the lottery in 1994 and later in 2001, it was awarded a second seven-year license to continue operate the national lottery. The main game of the national lottery was named lotto in 2002.
Today, over 65% of the UK population is play the national lottery on a regular basis. Around 28% of the lottery revenue is used for good causes. It is estimated that the lottery has so far raised more than £20 billion pounds for various good causes across the country.
Winning tickets must be claimed within 180 days after the draw. The winning prize amount is paid as a lump sum and is tax free. If the player does not claim the money within the 180 day period, then the prize money is divided throughout the good cause's fund.
Lotto Extra, Lotto Hot Picks, Thunderball, EuroMillions, and Scratchcards are some of the games that operate under national lottery brands. To enter the national lottery, you need to complete a play slip, which contains a number of boxes called "boards." Using pencil or blue/black ink put a bold mark on any six number boxes and hand over the ticket to the terminal. If you make any mistake, then put a mark on the void box and the terminal will ignore that particular board.
You must be 18 or over to play the National Lottery. Camelot have introduced some methods to stop under-age playing with proof-of-age-cards like Citizen Card and Validate. National lottery tickets are not available to non-UK residents.