With five different games, four huge top prizes of £4 million and over £120 million in total cash prizes available to be won, £4 Million Blue delivers great play value.

With odds of winning any prize on this scratch cards at roughly 100/30 it offers the best overall odds of winning any National Lottery prize. The 25.7 per cent profit margin on this game is the lowest of all National Lottery scratch cards.

£4 million Blue is the biggest scratch card on sale and is printed on foil to make it stand out even more in National Lottery retailers’ displays.

16.5 million tickets have been printed for the game, with around 23,500 National Lottery outlets with proven demand for higher-priced games set to stock the game.

As well as the new £10 game, Camelot has launched a second £3 Scratchcard, Pot of Gold.

Total UK National Lottery sales have increased by over 20 per cent since 2002 and the number of players playing National Lottery games has gone up five per cent since 2007.

One of the biggest unclaimed prizes of 2011 was a €250,000 Lotto Plus 2 prize, sold in Gorey, Co Wexford, in April. The next biggest prized to go unclaimed were two unclaimed Lotto Match 5 + bonus prizes for €25,000 each.

Unclaimed prize money is used by the National Lottery to promote various games and draws. The most recent evidence of this is the €1 million “top-up” added to the recent May Bank Holiday draw, which was financed by unclaimed prize money.

The largest unclaimed prize on record was for a €3.4 million jackpot from June 30th, 2001. The winning ticket was sold in Coolock, Dublin 5. Despite a campaign to find the winner on 2FM’s Gerry Ryan Show, no-one ever came forward.

“The balance of unclaimed prizes will fluctuate depending on the various prize promotions being done and the timing of end of game announcements for scratch card games,” the spokeswoman said.

2008 saw the most prize money go unclaimed, when roughly €21 million in prizes or two and a half per cent of turnover was never claimed.

Lottery sales in Ireland have fallen sharply in the recession, with total revenue from sales of tickets and scratch cards dropping from €840 million in 2008 to €761 million last year. Whilst sales revenue has fallen recently, the percentage of unclaimed prize money has remained relatively constant at between two and two and a half per cent of turnover.

Under the rules, winners have a 90-day period in which to collect their prizes after the announced end of the game after which time they forfeit any right to the prize.

source: Irish Times

Sharon Duncan, who bought the ticket but threw it away after the ticket scanner told her it wasn’t a winner was told she was entitled to the money. The person who claimed the winnings, Sharon Jones, after she found it in a bin of discarded lottery tickets was not entitled to keep the cash, the judge decided.

James Simpson, the lawyer of Ms. Jones said he plans to appeal the judges decision. He noted that Duncan testified she threw away the ticket after the read-out on a ticket scanner said, “Sorry. Not a winner.” The attorney argued that people shouldn’t be allowed to throw items away and then say, “`ooh, I want to un-abandon it.’”

White County judge Thomas Hughes, however, said Jones never met the burden of proof that Duncan abandoned her right to claim $1 million. “The $1 million was never found money,” he said.

Judge Hughes found that the evidence weighed in Duncan’s favor that she bought the winning ticket, even though lottery records and store security video didn’t synch up to the precise timing of the purchase.

Lance Huey, Security Chief of the Arkansas Lottery earlier testified that he investigated the circumstances of the ticket falling into Ms. Jones’ hands. He said the lottery was satisfied with the investigation that nothing untoward had occurred and awarded the prize in full.

source: Boston.com

According to the Britsh Columbia Lottery Commission (BCLC), the winner of the huge scratch card jackpot is called Jacqueline Davenport.

The winner said in statement released by BCLC on Friday 20th April,”I was just running out to get french fries and decided to stop to purchase a scratch-and-win ticket. I went home to eat and then I scratched my ticket. I matched the gem and I knew I had won something, and when I realized it was the jackpot, I came running out of my room. My daughter thought something was wrong and I had to reassure her everything was OK.”

Ms. Davenport is a single mother of two and had been trying and failing to make ends meet for over two years. She won’t have to worry about that now.

source: The Province

According to the New Zealand Lotteries Commission the store has sold over 220,000 winning tickets for games such as Lotto, Powerball, Big Wednesday and Strike for total winnings of just over $4,000,000.

The commission added that as well as the recent $500k prize, the store sold a Strike Four ticket worth $578,290 in March 2010 as well as 16 second-division Lotto prizes and one second-division Powerball ticket.

The winners of the most recent big prize sold in the store came into the supermarket to check their ticket on Sunday 15th April and supermarket employees said they were “very emotional” and it was an “exciting time” for everyone in the store. The man and woman who won the half-million dollar prize wished to remain anonymous but they did say that some of the money would be spent on their children.

As with any store that has had a recent lottery win, employees said that Pioneer New World has already seen more people coming in to purchase tickets for the next draws.

source: Stuff.co.nz

Winners are expected to decide whether they will take the money in installments or a one-time lump sum. Pre-tax, Mega Millions officials believe each jackpot winning ticket is worth around $213 million.

The winning numbers drawn on Friday were 2, 4, 23, 38 and 46. The all important Mega Ball was number 23.

The winners from Maryland and Kansas may never be revealed as those states allow all lottery winners to remain anonymous if they would prefer; Illinois on the other hand identifies all winners.

Over the weeks and months that this huge jackpot accumulated it is rather staggering that Americans all over the country spent nearly $1.5 billion on Mega Millions tickets. Such was the lottery fever surrounding the jackpot as it built, sales surged as the twice weekly draws neared.

The stores where the winning tickets were sold will also profit from the outcome as Kansas store will receive a $100,000 bonus, while the store in Illinois gets half a million dollars.

source: ABC News

The numbers draw on Tuesday night were 9, 19, 34, 44 and 51. The Mega Ball was 24. Mega Millions officials have confirmed that there was no winner of the $356m jackpot for that draw.

If there is one lucky winner of the $476m prize on Friday night, they will become by far the biggest winner in Mega Millions history, with the current biggest jackpot ever won coming in at $390 million. This staggering amount of money was won in March 2007, almost exactly five years ago.

Although nobody won the big prize, around 2.9 million tickets were winners. The chances of winning any prize in a Mega Millions draw are around 40 to 1.

With bigger jackpots the time running up to the draw become an almost frenzied ticket buying spree as people look to win a truly life altering sum of money. $476 million is not just life altering for a single person, it will change the lives of all their family and friends.

The next draw takes place at 11 p.m. ET on Friday 30th March and will be live on TV across the country.

source: ABC

Illinois Lottery officials were reported to be pleased with the early sales figures and were confident that sales would continue to do well with Tuesday’s Mega Millions draw on the horizon. With an estimated jackpot of $356million, few would blame someone for purchasing a ticket.

“There are lots of people who buy most of their products over the Internet,” Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones said Sunday, justifying the state lottery’s move to provide Lotto and Mega Millions tickets online.

All people looking to play on Illinois Lottery’s online site have to register an account and provide a proof of age, otherwise they will be unable to buy lottery tickets. Anyone registered to the site that wins a prize of over $600 will have to file a claim form to get their prize money. The Illinois Lottery are confident that they can avoid underage players winning large sums of money by playing lottery via their website.

source: stltoday.com and Business Week

Instead of binning the ticket straight away the teenager checked the numbers and discovered that one of his lines matches five numbers and the bonus ball.

Mr Kitching, who works at the fish counter of a local supermarket said he would use some of the money to send his parents on holiday. He also added that he wanted to thank his mother for putting up with him and his dirty bedroom.

He hasn’t decided his plans for the money but was thinking of having a lads holiday in Magaluf this summer. His Dad has been nagging him on ways to invest the money, mainly in a property that he could then rent out. The lucky winner was reluctant to invest in property as he “still gets his tea cooked” at home.

Ryan also revealed that he had just been dumped by his girlfriend and was relieved that he would be able to treat himself for a change without having to worry about her. He also works at First Response, a charity that provides training to people to provide emergency medical aid, and will donate some of his winnings to the charity.

source: Daily Mail

She matched five numbers and one of two lucky star numbers to win a second-tier prize.

The owner of the shop where the yet to be identified woman purchased the winning ticket said, “We’re thrilled. It’s the first time we’ve sold a winning Euromillions ticket,”

“The woman from the lottery said she had great news, that we had sold the second prize, and that she was thrilled.” Staff at the same shop sold a €4 million winning Lotto ticket in May 2010 “but never found out who won it in the end” the owner added

According to the shop staff the winning ticket was a €9 combi ticket.

The €26m jackpot was won by a EuroMillions player in the United Kingdom.

source: Irish Times