Saturday’s Lotto jackpot estimated at £3.8m after launch of new format – AOL

The National Lottery’s new Lotto format saw its first draw on Wednesday without a top prize winner, leaving an estimated £3.8 million jackpot up for grabs this Saturday.

This inaugural Wednesday evening draw introduced a revamped game, offering players two distinct opportunities to win from a single £2 line.

The twice-weekly draws, conducted at 8pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays, now operate under a two-round system.

This involves two separate machines drawing two sets of six main numbers and a bonus ball.

It means players can secure a win in either round, or both, from one Lotto entry.

Tonight’s National Lottery Lotto winning numbers are:

Round 1: 01, 12, 25, 29, 40, 41 and the bonus ball is 16.

Round 2: 02, 05, 12, 42, 47, 54 and the bonus ball is 51.

No player matched all six main numbers in either draw to scoop the top prize, and no ticket holder matched five out of six numbers to win a million pounds.

However, 94 players matched five out of six numbers to win £1,000 each.

For the Lotto HotPicks game, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw, no player matched five out of five numbers, meaning the guaranteed prize per winner of £175,000 was missed.

The National Lottery Thunderball winning numbers are 01, 08, 12, 14, 24 and the Thunderball number is 10.

No player matched five numbers plus the Thunderball so there were no winners for the guaranteed £500,000 prize.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at National Lottery operator Allwyn, said: “New Lotto is here. One ticket, two chances to win, and more winners.

“As no one has won tonight’s £2m jackpot, Saturday’s draw will have an estimated £3.8 million jackpot on offer.

“It’s the start of a new chapter for Lotto, but every ticket played is about more than the chance to win – as players help raise around £33 million weekly for good cause projects that make a real difference across the UK.”

In the new game, players continue to pick six numbers from 59 balls. Jackpots still start at £2 million and can roll over up to five times before a must-be-won draw on the sixth time.

The updated game is expected to more than double the number of Lotto millionaires – from around 140 a year to about 345, while the odds of winning a prize will improve from 1-in-9.3 to 1-in-4.9, Allwyn previously said.