At the same time, the National Lottery introduced computer-generated 'quick picks' as an alternative to marking numbers on paper playslips. Some retailers now only offer the quick-pick option. For draws beginning on 26 September 1998, the National Lottery increased the.
- Alternatives To National Lottery Winnings
- Alternatives To National Lottery Win
- Alternatives To National Lottery Winning
Premium bonds are one of the UK's most popular savings products, with the tantalising chance of winning £1 million – but the NS&I isn't the only provider where you could strike it lucky.
- Return The National Lottery Numbers from 59 to 49 and Improve The Cash Prize Distribution.
- Alternative Uses for Your Money Instead of the Lottery Granted, interest rates are lower now than they have been in a very long time. But, the few saved pennies here and there really do add up. Your local credit union may offer higher interest rates than your bank or savings and loan.
- Alaska has yet to introduce a lottery due to financial concerns about its viability in a sparse population, while Hawaii citizens have been opposed to lotteries. The states with the largest populations – New York, Florida, California, and Texas – account for the greatest sales and contributions to state revenues.
- Here are the better alternatives to the National Lottery you would want to try. Health Lottery The Health Lottery, also known as the National Health Lottery is an independent lottery launched in.
Currently, the odds of winning any prize for premium bonds are 1 in 24,500. While the odds of taking home the million-pound jackpot are a tiny 1 in 34bn. So, how do other prize-draw accounts compare?
Which? looks at premium bonds alternatives on the market and whether the odds are in your favour.
How do premium bond prizes work?
Every premium bond you hold has an equal chance of winning a prize, so the more you buy, the better your odds. If you hold £10,000 or more in premium bonds, your chances of winning at least one prize over 12 months are 99.99%.
However, up to 90% of the 3m prizes given out by the NS&I each month are for less than £500. So even if you're lucky enough to win consistently, you may see relatively modest returns.
The NS&I estimates that a person with average luck will earn around 1.4% on their investment.
You can find out more in our guide to premium bonds.
Alternatives to premium bonds
While premium bonds remain popular, there are a number of other savings products on the market that offer prizes.
This table summarises the accounts that offer a chance to win on your savings. Scroll down to learn more about each option.
Account | AER | Maximum prize | Total number of prizes | Frequency | Number of entries | Odds of winning |
NS&I Premium bonds | Nil | £1m | More than 3m | Monthly | 1 per £1 bond | 24,500 to 1 |
Halifax Savers prize draw* | Depends on account | £100,000 (superdraw: £500,000) | 1,603 (superdraw: 1,605) | Monthly | 1 per customer | n/a |
Family BS Windfall bond | Varies in line with base rate | £50,000 | 13 | Monthly | 1 per £10k bond | 64 to 1 in a year |
Virgin Money Regular e-saver | 2.25% | Virgin Holiday | Variable | Quarterly | 1 per customer | n/a |
Virgin Money Man Utd Red Devil Saver | 0.5% | Manchester Utd hospitality tickets | Variable | Monthly | 1 per customer | n/a |
Source: provider websites, Which? Money Compare
*Links to representative Halifax account
But while the opportunity to win big may be eye-catching, regular savings accounts, Isas or fixed-rate bonds may offer a better interest rate.
Choosing an account with a guaranteed interest rate will lock in regular returns, meaning you can better plan your finances. So weigh up carefully which type of account is right for you.
- Looking for a new savings account? Compare deals at Which? MoneyCompare
Halifax May 2018 superdraw
The Halifax Savers Prize Draw hands out cash each month to winning Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers – and next month, two will take home £500,000.
Generally, the top prize in the Halifax draw is £100,000, which is allocated to three winners. Another 100 winners receive £1,000, while 1,500 receive £100.
Alternatives To National Lottery Winnings
But in some months, known as ‘superdraws', two additional top prizes of £500,000 are handed out. The next superdraw is May 2018, so you have another 11 days to register.
The prize draw is open to anyone aged over 18 who holds a retail-branded Halifax or Bank of Scotland savings account. You need to register to take part, and keep a total balance of more than £5,000 in your account for the whole calendar month before each draw.
Each customer gets one entry, so your odds are the same no matter what your balance is. Around 1,603 prizes are awarded each month, but Halifax has not shared the exact odds of winning.
- Find out more: how to find the best savings account
Family Building Society Windfall bond
If you invest in a Windfall bond, you're automatically entered into a prize draw each month. One entrant will be awarded £50,000, while another two win £10,000 and 10 more win £1,000.
At the same time, your investment will earn interest at the Bank of England base rate, which is currently 0.5%. Interest is calculated annually and paid into a separate account.
Each bond – worth £10,000 – has an equal chance, with the odds of winning a prize at 64/1 over the first 12 draws.
To earn a bond, you need to invest exactly £10,000. Withdrawal is not permitted, though you can close the account with 35 days' notice.
Virgin Money Regular e-saver
To earn a bond, you need to invest exactly £10,000. Withdrawal is not permitted, though you can close the account with 35 days' notice.
Virgin Money Regular e-saver
The Virgin Money e-saver offers interest at a fixed rate of 2.25%, but you're also entered into a quarterly prize draw.
Each draw hands out a range of rewards, including a holiday from Virgin Holidays, vouchers for Virgin Experience days or cases of Virgin Wine.
Account holders will automatically gain 10 entries into the prize draw, and you can earn up to 10 additional entries for each month you make a deposit.
But if you want to enter this prize draw, you have to move fast. The account will be withdrawn on 30 June 2018, with the last draw held shortly after.
Deposits are capped at £250 per calendar month, but you can withdraw your money at any time.
- Find out more: bank accounts for savers
Virgin Money Man Utd Red Devil Saver
For Manchester United fans, Virgin Money offers accounts that hand out team prizes, including match-day tickets, official Man Utd replica shirts and hospitality tickets.
You'll earn 10 entries for every month your account is open, and an extra entry for every £50 in your account.
You can access your money whenever you need it, provided the account has at least £1 deposited.
But be aware at this account pays just 0.5% AER interest.
For fans under 16 years old, Virgin also offers the Fred the Red Young Saver, which pays a more robust 2% AER.
Are prize-draw accounts better than the lottery?
The National Lottery offers truly eye-watering sums of money, with last night's Lotto offering a jackpot of £6.3m.
The odds of winning any prize in Lotto are 9.3 to 1. But the odds of taking home a jackpot are tiny, at just 1 in 45 million.
To participate in the lottery you have to buy a ticket, so if you don't win, you lose the money altogether.
By contrast, prize-draw savings funds and premium bonds allow you to keep the money you pay in – meaning even if you're not a winner, you're not left worse off.
Which? Limited is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Which? Financial Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 527029). Which? Mortgage Advisers and Which? Money Compare are trading names of Which? Financial Services Limited.
Alternatives to Playing the Lottery
There's always a chance that you might get bored of playing the lottery, or maybe you just want to experiment a bit with different games. In reality lottery is unique. The essence, the core of the game is one of a kind and can't be replaced completely by pretty much anything. However, if you feel the need that you need a break of lottery or maybe you want to see if the grass is greener beyond the fence you have my complete support. Finding the perfect alternative to playing the lottery is utterly difficult. After I thought about for some time I came up with a few ideas which you might find interesting. Hopefully, once you finish reading this article you'll have a better idea what your options are.
Lottery's Distant Cousin – Start Playing Keno to Spice Things Up
Lottery is the predecessor of Keno. The resemblances are uncanny! Today you can play Keno online from the comfort of your cozy home. It doesn't involve buying tickets instead you just select the numbers as you did when you were playing the lottery. The game play and the game rules may be similar, but Keno has a huge drawback. Not only will your money vanish, vaporize into thin air if you get hooked on it. Due to the convenience to play whenever you want and how much you like, you may get carried away. On top of this the prizes may come frequently, but they are so low you won't find them worthwhile at all. Some Keno games may come with a progressive jackpot. These games are worth the shot. The jackpots are nowhere near the ones you can win by playing the lottery. Forget about the life changing experience, because it's not going to happen if you go for Keno. The bottom line is, it's a decent alternative to lottery and it will allow you to experiment with a game of your kind.
Instant Lottery – Scratch Cards Are Similar yet So Different
Scratch cards have been around for decades. In recent years in order to diversify and distinct themselves some scratch cards are themed. Scratch card players like this sort of stuff. At one point even I tried playing some scratch cards. By all means it sure is exciting, but they still do miss that touch only lottery has. You buy the scratch card you scratch it and that's all. There's no analyzing, making strategy, devising an approach to tackle the game or anything remotely related. If you want to increase your odds of winning you just need to buy more tickets. However, your wallet's not going to like this.
Lottery yet again seems like the better of the two. There's room for improvement. In time you become experienced and you have higher chances not only of winning any prize, but the jackpot too! You can buy scratch cards online or in your local lottery outlet.
Lottery May Not Be the Issue – Change the Lottery You Play
Have you ever thought of this? Maybe the real dilemma is not if you should play the lottery or not, but which one you should play. Yes, at one point in time I was in the same situation as you are now. To be honest, I was so focused on one lottery that I started doubting that lottery is my thing. I just couldn't see, I couldn't realize that there are other lotteries, with different rules, win conditions etc. Eventually, once I started to experiment with three, four other lotteries the doubts I had were washed away.
Most likely you're in the same situation now. That's if you are directing all your time and money to one lottery only. At the very least, you'll probably understand lottery much better when you attempt to win a different lottery. They say all of them are the same. This is wrong on so many different levels. It's more probable that two lotteries will be different than to be identical.
Take a Break from Playing the Lottery – Save Some Money for When You Get Back
This one is not exactly an alternative to lottery, but an alternative to the time you used to spend playing the lottery. Sometimes that's all it takes, some time off. As if you broke up with lottery and now you need to let the dust settle. Once the dust is down you can go back and try to rekindle old interests.
You don't know what you've been into this whole time until you find yourself in a situation where it's gone. I'm 100% positive that when you see an ad or maybe something else reminds you of lottery you'll want to go back to playing the lottery. And once you get back to lottery you'll enjoy in it twice as much, maybe even more.
Alternatives To National Lottery Win
While you're on a break try put the money aside. Next time when you start playing again you'll have a hefty cash balance. Even if you don't get back to playing the lottery ever again, you'll see how much money you've saved so far. Try not to let them go to waste. Remember, you wanted to spend them to play the lottery and maybe win the jackpot. Using them for a similar purpose is the only right way.
After all, lottery is just a game, a game that can change your life.