The History of UK Lotteries In the early days of lotteries there were a huge number of societies, sports clubs, charities and local authorities running local schemes under the watchful eye of the Lottery Commission. The top prize in those very early days was ÂŁ1,000 but the fact that these lotteries were local meant that winners were local as well. It was something that maintained interest and participation. It was not always easy because the ratio of winners to losers was one in five at best and often much less favourable. While scratch cards were popular, some of the lotteries that decided to provide playability within their tickets instead opted for a bingo card, so at least people got some extra value, even if ultimately they lost.
Local to National
The 70s was the peak time for such retail based lotteries and, in general, interest began to drop off a decade later. What revived lotteries was the decision by the UK Government to launch a national lottery, with the first prize being a percentage of the take. Suddenly people realised that they could become wealthy overnight. In the period of just over two decades after its launch, a significant number of people have indeed become millionaires. Internet Membership Within that time, a further boost came from the Internet. It was no longer necessary to go down to the corner shop to buy a ticket. People were offered the facility of buying online; companies like DTD European Services have been able to offer membership facilities and an easy way to pay each month. People do not have to worry about missing out if they take up membership; as long as their payment goes through each month, they will be in the draw. When they win, they will be automatically informed. Don’t Miss Out Over the years the number of unclaimed prizes, sometimes several million pounds, has been astonishing. Perhaps the ticket was lost? Perhaps winners did not even bother to check? Whatever the reason, it is clearly a sad situation which will never happen to members who have a management company looking after everything. The size of prizes these days is enormous. The UK record is in excess of £160m. The winners were two ordinary people whose lives suddenly changed. It can happen again, but only to those people who take part. A membership is one way to ensure that happens every time. It is surely worth going online and finding out what needs to be done to get a lottery membership.