Betting on a Lottery Windfall?

With the news that the UK National Lottery is due to double its price from £1 to £2 this October, disgruntled lottery players have started looking for other ways to enjoy their twice weekly lottery buzz. While some players are opting to play alternative lottery games which are still priced at £1 but have smaller jackpots (such as the Health Lottery or Thunderball), some players are deciding to try their luck on lottery betting instead.

Lottery betting is not a new phenomenon in the sports betting world as UK punters have commonly used lottery betting markets to bet on the outcome of lotteries based overseas, such as the Irish Lottery. Until now however, betting on domestic lotteries has been a relatively small market.

Markets in lottery betting include first ball out (odds or evens), colour of the first ball drawn and Bonus Ball number/colour/odds or even. Betfred now offer a complete lotto betting solution, which allows players to bet on eleven international lotteries. Some sites, such as Paddy Power, even offer players the ability to bet on specific numbers being drawn. Coral has gone one step further this week with the introduction of Health Lottery betting which could see punters win £1 million – ten times more than the average Health Lottery jackpot – by staking just £1 on the game.

The game, named Health Lottery Plus, will be available exclusively to play at Coral bookmaker stores on the high street from today, according to an article in the Daily Star. Punters will be able to bet on both the Health Lottery numbers and also choose an additional “Million Pound Number” for the chance to win £1 million.

Picture of the TOWIE cast from the Daily Star

The game was officially launched by the glamorous cast of TOWIE, including Lauren Goodger, Maria Fowler and Kirk Norcross, at a Coral store in Essex last week.

While it is unlikely that betting on the lottery will become more popular than simply playing the game itself, bookies are certainly giving players plenty of options should they fancy a change from their usual flutter.

To read more about the best online Sportsbooks and to read reviews of Coral, Paddy Power and Betfred, visit Gamble.co.uk.