Playing the Euromillions now costs more - but the chances of winning the jackpot have plummeted.
Lottery organisers Camelot have increased the price of a ticket from £2 to £2.50, while cutting the odds of netting the top prize from approximately one in 117 million to one in 140 million, due to an increase in the number of lucky stars.
"[Camelot bosses] say the increased price reflects bigger prizes on offer and insist they are doubling the current number of guaranteed UK millionaires," the Daily Mail says.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"But despite the organisers saying the changes will help raise money for its good causes, punters were unimpressed, saying that it was a 'rip off' and 'pure greed'."
Wannabe millionaires may soon look elsewhere to take the punt. Here are some alternatives:
People's Postcode lottery
This charity lottery operates slightly differently, with users asked to subscribe to for at least a month, costing them £10.
There is a prize of £3m on offer to one postcode each month and the jackpot is shared equally between all the players living in the lucky area.
Prizes are up for grabs every day – and it's not just cash on offer.
"Each ticket could pick up life-changing cheques, a brand new BMW, or a dream holiday," says the organisation. A minimum of 30 per cent of the ticket price goes to charity.
Premium bonds
Investing in tax-free premium bonds is extremely popular, with £59.8bn held in them, according to the Daily Telegraph. This is partly due to their security, as they are backed by the government.
Premium bond numbers are chosen at random each month, with prizes ranging from £25 to £1m and two lucky investors winning the jackpot. The more bonds you have, the higher your chances are of winning - but you need a minimum of £100 to get started.
Bingo
Whether people play in their local hall or online – as punters increasingly do – bingo has long been a favourite British pastime. There are dozens of sites to choose, but many punters prefer the atmosphere of being surrounded by players in person. The prize money varies widely.
"It's relaxing to indulge in a social game that requires minimal thought, affords young and old the same chance of winning, and has a strong element of suspense," says Science News.
Scratch cards
Like bingo, the amount of money up for grabs with scratch cards varies wildly, as does their price. However, in contrast to many other forms of gambling, they are not random, says the Telegraph.
"Somebody decides how many will deliver a win, and how the winning cards are spread geographically. The winning numbers are generated by a computer program according to a formula," it says.
Lotto betting
If Euromillions was your favourite way to try and win big, fear not, there is a close alternative.
Lotto betting, such as Lottoland, allows punters to bet on the lottery's outcome rather than buy a ticket directly.
The big advantage is that Lottoland has frozen its price for Euromillions bets at £2 - as well as offering new customers a free line for Friday's jackpot, which stands at more than £100m.
There are two drawbacks, says AOL. You can win the same prize money for each prize tier that the official lottery operator offers, including the jackpot, but Lottoland does not match the Millionaire Maker prize, in which two ticket-holders are given £1m.
Plus you won't be contributing to the National Lottery's good causes, such as tackling homelessness and cancer, helping deaf children and dementia sufferers and preserving the UK's diverse heritage.
The National Lottery's funding also made a vast difference to the UK's Olympics and Paralympics teams – and claiming to have helped Team GB to victory might soften the blow of losing the Euromillions each week.
The Health Lottery
Made up from 51 lotteries, each representing one or more local authority areas across the country, the Health Lottery raises money for health-related good causes and has so far raised more than £81m.
"Each local society lottery takes turns at participating in the draw so that every area in England, Scotland and Wales gets an appropriate share of the monies raised," the organisation says.
Players choose from five numbers between one and 50 – or they can have them randomly selected by a machine - and need to match just two in order to claim a prize. Tickets are £1 each and can be bought at the Heath Lottery website or from 32,000 retailers. You can find your nearest one [2] here.
Two numbers will win you a free ticket, three will get you £20, four numbers nabs you £250 and getting all five will see up £100,000 sent your way. The odds of winning the jackpot are one in 2.12 million – less than the national lottery.
The draw is broadcast at 9.55pm on Channel 5 on Fridays, or players can check results online or in the Daily Express, the Daily Star, the Daily Mirror and The Sun the following day.
The website also features a wide variety of slot-machine games to play for just £1, as well as bingo.
