Until recently, however, players had to match all six balls to win the UK Lotto jackpot. That meant that only a few people who happened to pick the right numbers got to share in the jackpot for each draw.

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This system, however, is changing. Players no longer HAVE to match all six balls to get a slice of the jackpot, with five, four, and three all netting part of the jackpot winnings.

In what’s being dubbed the “Must-Be-Won” approach, jackpot winnings will be distributed to players who played during the same week as the draw, rather than to players in subsequent draws. Players in the current draw will benefit because they will get all the money that they paid back to them as a group.

In the past, jackpots used to be “rolled over,” meaning that if nobody successfully matched all balls in the current week, then the prize money would be added to the following week’s jackpot. Rollovers happen in most lotteries around the world, including the US and Canada, resulting in enormous pots of money.

UK Lotto, however, will work differently. Rather than insisting that jackpots can only be won by those who match six numbers, they will now be distributed to other players through a new tier system.

Five Main Balls And The Bonus Ball. Players who match five main balls and the bonus ball will share 3 per cent of the total jackpot prize money between them.

Five Main Balls. Players who match five main balls will share 6 per cent of the jackpot prize money.

Four Main Balls. Players who match four main balls will share 17 per cent of the jackpot prize money.

Three Main Balls. Under the new UK Lotto rules, even players who match three main balls will share in the jackpot. 74 per cent will be allocated to players in this tier.

Remember, the tier system is only activated when no player manages to match all six balls successfully.

Although the new UK Lotto system isn’t used in many other lotteries around the world, it has been tried elsewhere. In Germany, for instance, three players won more than €3 million each through a similar system.

The UK Lotto system hopes to escape the problem of enormous jackpots while at the same time making playing exciting. Players have a chance to win big money every week, even if they don’t match all six balls, thanks to the new distribution system for jackpot winnings.

The new approach may increase engagement in Lotto. Players who match more than three but not all six will wait eagerly to hear whether or not there has been a winner.

This article forms part of our UK Lottery Resource Centre.