National Lottery or Health Lottery — Which is Best?

The Health Lottery was launched in September 2011 and has been heavily promoted on TV and in the press. Tickets cost £1, which was the same as the National Lottery. But the National Lottery have increased their ticket price to £2 so many people must be wondering which one is best. Which one gives the best chance of winning? If it is millions that you are hoping for then there is only one contender. But if you are more realistically looking at the smaller prizes then the answer is not so clear.

Let's compare the odds and the prizes:-
National Lottery

Matching numbers Odds of winning  Prize
3 numbers        56 to 1          £10 per winner
4 numbers        1,031 to 1       7% Typical £65
5 numbers        55,490 to 1      10% Typical £1500
5 & Bonus Ball   2,330,635 to 1   16% Typical £100,000
6 numbers        13,983,815 to 1  52% Typical £2M 
The overall odds of winning any prize is 54 to 1

Matching numbers Odds of winning  Prize
3 numbers        213 to 1          £50
4 numbers        9,418 to 1        £500
5 numbers        2,118,761 to 1    £100,000
The overall odds of winning any prize is 210 to 1

The Health Lottery wins when we look at the odds and payout for 3 balls. It is clearly a better prospect. It is more difficult to compare the other prizes because the National Lottery payout will vary from week to week.

With a typical payout of £65 for 4 correct the National Lottery would seem to be slightly better but the prize can be more or less than that. The Health Lottery guarantees a prize of £500. This is a lot more than the National Lottery but the odds against it are much higher. Remember that the Health Lottery is a 5 from 50 draw and The National Lottery is 6 from 49. So you have a better chance of getting 3, 4 or 5 numbers in the National Lottery, with correspondingly smaller prizes.

National Lottery — Where the money goes
10.0% in operating costs, marketing, and administration 
28.0% to good causes 50.0% to winners 
12.0% Tax 
0.0% Unexplained

Health Lottery — Where the money goes
22.0% in operating costs, marketing and administration
20.3% to health related good causes
*variable% to winners	
*variable% Unexplained	
*Amount paid out depends on the number of winners