Though the UK National Lottery maintains –and can fairly well support– the idea that its winners are more or less evenly distributed throughout the UK, there are bound to be some areas with more frequent wins than others, an interest in the postcode with the most happy surprises naturally surges each year as results are tallied. Both major and minor wins have been issuing from Kent and the North East recently, yet Ilford of Essex has presented itself as the leading source of UK winners, with one prize for every 6,772 ticket buyers.


Competing postcodes were Newcastle Upon Tyne, with a winner for every 6,884 punters, followed by Medway Towns. The competition is sure to become steep as rivaling postcodes ramp up for another year of rapid wins and whirlwind fortunes. With the release of the exciting statistics, the National Lottery was quick to remind its players that with over £36 billion paid out in prizes since 1994, and an average of twenty millionaires created in each postcode, the numbers are a poor reason to pack up and move to Ilford –or wherever the distinction of the UK’s “luckiest town” may travel next.

After all, lottery winning methods are rarely about analysing every possible variable and setting oneself up in the best position –a move that may only give a slight advantage in a game with famously challenging odds. Rather, winners most often find themselves pleasantly surprised at the outcome of their choice to give good old luck a chance.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Winning any substantial amount of money in the UK National Lottery is bound to be an exciting experience for players, and regret that the sum wasn’t larger is a feeling that probably doesn’t surface very often. Sometimes, however, lottery players can find that their initial understanding of their winnings was incorrect, with either negative or positive consequences. Recently, a woman from Australia found herself on the happy side of this lottery accident when she was contacted by the local lottery authority. The company congratulated her on a win of over $800 thousand, to which the woman responded that there must have been a mistake, as she was sure she had only won $12 thousand.

Upon learning that she herself had made the error, the woman reported that she felt the need to lie down for a while. As she did so, a local news shop celebrated its status as the winning vendor, noting that it had officially sold its third major win ticket within the past year, giving the shop a strong draw for players and a bright reputation among locals.

The winner has not yet released any personal details nor hinted at what she might purchase with her new fortune, though players around the world are likely to have no trouble imagining some appropriate buys. Even if it wasn’t connected to the lottery, most players have found themselves with more than they thought they had coming at some point. What’s your favorite encounter with finding out you’re luckier than you’d thought?

Popularity: 9% [?]

One of Ireland’s most famous and most-treasured natural landmarks is the Giant’s Causeway, a coastal feature created by volcanic activity sixty five million years ago. Sporting a landscape that features numerous geometric columns of rock rising from the sea, the Causeway has captivated the imaginations of visitors and residents for centuries, and old tales about the area highlight its role in local folklore, which states that the causeway was built by Irish giant Finn McCool in an effort to reach an adversary in Scotland. But the area is marked by more than beauty and legend; erosion and a lack of visitor facilities and education have marred the site for years.

Thanks to the UK National Lottery and its players, however, the Giant’s Causeway will soon receive a £3 million grant to be put towards the creation of a new visitor’s center and to bolster efforts to combat erosion. Plans to invigorate the area had been underway for quite some time, but were continually subject to disagreements over spending and logistics, issues largely relieved by the newly-announced influx of cash. The new visitor’s center will incorporate several “green” building components including a grass roof to help it feel more natural amidst its environment, as well as water-permeable pavement. Storytellers and other volunteers will also be recruited to improve the site’s educational experience. Anti-erosion efforts will include better maintenance of existing trails and the creation of new ones to help protect the site without rendering it inaccessible.

Popularity: 9% [?]

A couple from Long Island in the American state of New York was recently overwhelmed by a major lottery win in which they netted over $162 million –but the pair has come under fire from county officials who claim the couple owed nearly $1 million to local taxpayers. The complaint outlines a fraud case in which it is believed that the couple, described by a neighbor as not having “a malicious bone in their body,” granted themselves unauthorized bonuses and participated in other questionable financial activities while they ran local homeless shelters.

The couple has insisted on their innocence and has said that they’d like to start a non-profit organization with part of their winnings, in addition to the luxury car they’ve already purchased and a warm-weather vacation in the works. Though the substantial fees noted in the complaint against the winning couple would be fairly easy to absolve thanks to the major jackpot win, it seems likely that the case will end up in court or otherwise contested until a higher authority is able to make a decision.

The case serves as a reminder to UK National Lottery players and lottery enthusiasts around the world that with the great publicity and excitement of a lottery win can sometimes come ample room for scandal. The couple’s dispute with the state is likely to receive considerable coverage as contention over the funds rages onwards.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The popularity of lottery games around the world, from the UK National Lottery to games in the most remote parts of the Earth, makes them a popular target for attempts at special feats and tricks, and the Singapore Lottery is no exception. The Asian country is gearing up for a special multi-day event in which two high-profile magicians will use a number of undisclosed methods to arrive at the winning numbers for a major lottery game.

The event is set to draw plenty of attention as the prediction will be noted down and encased in a series of complex and ostensible tamper-proof casings, with a final seal being placed on the contraption’s outer lock and a signature from the local lottery authority. The prediction, inside its various trappings, will be suspended in a public area for six days preceding the announcement of the winning lottery numbers, and will be checked only after the game has been completed.

Though there are many who are skeptical about the magic couple’s chances of striking a win, others are enthusiastic about the challenge. Whether the feat is successful or not, the team stands an excellent chance of being watched with keen eyes as they attempt one of the most dazzling and potentially rewarding tricks in the book. The sealing will took place on the 22nd of January, and interested citizens will be able to view the prediction on display until the lottery’s draw on the 27th.

Popularity: 15% [?]

In many parts of the world, sales of lottery tickets and other products and services within the gambling sector may be in a steep decline thanks to the chaos of the world’s financial markets. But a gloomy economy hasn’t been able to put a damper on the lottery-happy spirits of New York’s players. The state’s lottery authority recently announced that its revenues have gone up nearly two and a half percent over the past year. In a time when most markets have faced dismal drops in salves and are struggling to make ends meet, the lottery’s revenue is proving to be a valuable source of income for the state.

While most of those bearing witness to the trend are enthusiastic about the potential for fun and amusement that lottery tickets, scratch-off games, and other types of gambling can provide in even the most sour of times, others caution that a dependence upon the games as a source of a saving grace from dire financial circumstances is a poor and possibly harmful practice. Though lottery players from around the world, whether enjoying the UK National Lottery or buying the occasional scratch-off in New York, may benefit from a little wishful thinking, relying on the lottery to put food on the table or save a home from foreclosure is bound to result in sorrow. After all –playing the lottery should engender joy and entertainment, even if a little twinge of disappointment appears when one’s numbers don’t win.

Popularity: 11% [?]

The dream of winning the UK National Lottery or the EuroMillions draw is strong for most players, but some may be more susceptible to believing in scams that are simply too good to be true. The most recent victim in a EuroMillions lottery scam making its way across the UK and the continent was an elderly woman hailing from Aberdeen, who has duped out of £24,000 as she followed the instructions of a man pretending to be acting in an official lottery operator capacity.

The woman received a falsified notice that she had won a substantial monetary prize through the draw, and was persuaded to make two distinct payments into separate UK business accounts in order to be able to claim her prize. Authorities investigating the scam have noted that the sophisticated use of seemingly legitimate bank accounts and names may have played a significant role in convincing the woman that she had really won.

Lottery officials have reminded their players that contacting the operator of the draw directly to verify a win before taking any action is of the utmost importance, and further caution that contact from those alleging to be authorities should be taken with several grains of salt. Recent EuroMillions and other lottery scams have been circulating via email, phone, and post, and are often marked by realistic logos, stationary, and other paraphernalia, making the need to double-check correspondence and notifications especially pronounced.

Popularity: 14% [?]

While lottery players have certainly shown their prowess in wins of the UK National Lottery over the years, UK players’ performances in the multi-national EuroMillions draws have been positively stellar, with a long list of mega millionaires created from the popular game. This week, another UK winner learned of their sudden windfall of £26.1 million after splitting a £52.3 million jackpot with an unidentified player in France. After the winning numbers were announced on Friday, players waited in anticipation for the winners to come forward, and the lucky UK participant kept onlookers anxious with nearly a full day of waiting before contacting the lottery authorities to stake their claim.

Of course, the precise timing of the win as well as the claim means that the massive check won’t be interacting with any eager UK banks until this morning, when some of the cash may be deposited in order to rack up some respectable interest –which could be as high as £50 thousand per month. When the funds are finally released into the winner’s hands, they’ll have to decide whether to make their identity public or to keep players wondering. Whether the winner is an individual or party of a syndicate is as yet unknown, though substantial recent wins for UK syndicates, including the Liverpool BT call centre winners who snatched £45.5 million late last year, have many taking their ticket purchasing strategies to new heights with lottery pools at work and in local communities.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Securing adequate medical care when ill, and especially when elderly, is often a difficult task, but after the challenge of this necessity, many people may fall short of acquiring the emotional and social support they need to remain engaged with the community and avoid potentially harmful isolation. UK National Lottery players can feel especially positive about their ticket purchases this week with the announcement that the Big Lottery Fund will be handing out £1 million in lottery charity funds to a set of five programs throughout Scotland that help to train and provide resources for carers.

Caregivers are an often-overlooked yet essential component of health care for those who might not otherwise be able to get out on their own or participate in certain activities. Providing support and assistance to these carers can greatly aid in the quality of care that is in turn administered to the UK’s sick and elderly, resulting in happier and more prosperous lives even in the most dire of situations. The charitable giving is just one of many initiatives undertaken by the Big Lottery Fund to improve the lives of UK citizens and help meaningful projects take flight. With significant sums of money distributed throughout the year to causes in a wide variety of sectors, the UK National Lottery helps its players have great fun within a context that feels great no matter who wins the jackpot.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Stuart Donnelly, a man who won the UK National Lottery at just seventeen years of age to become one of the game’s youngest-ever winners, was recently found dead in his home, and while police have stated that they do not suspect any foul play, they are nevertheless investigating the case and will order a post-mortem. The winner was showered with about two million pounds in 1997 before his eighteenth birthday, becoming a millionaire before most others his age had even started their careers.

Upon winning, Donnelly purchased a home for himself and put his parents up as well, and seemed to enjoy a fairly quiet, if unexpectedly comfortable life. He allotted a considerable amount of his winnings to a local hospital in which his brother, ill with a genetic disease, was given treatment. The comfortable post-winning life, however, was punctuated from time to time by the attention Donnelly and his family received over the win. In 2003, Donnelly noted that media incidents such as the camping of several journalists outside his home contributed to family stress, an issue that sometimes besets lotto winners who take their victories public.

Though Donnelly’s seemingly premature death at just 29 may be tragic, it appears that the young lottery winner was able to enjoy many of his years reaping the rewards of his head-turning win and taking those close to him along for the ride.

Popularity: 14% [?]