National Lottery rolls over to £57.8m after record jackpot goes unclaimed
The Lotto Jackpot of £50.4m, already the biggest in history, has gone unclaimed again, resulting in a £57.8m ($84.57m) rollover. The winning numbers for Wednesday 6 January were 8, 30, 40, 50, 54, 57 and the bonus ball was 13.
The largest jackpot previously won was £42m in January 1996. It was shared by three separate ticket-holders. The largest amount ever won by an individual was £20.1m, with Iris Jeffrey claiming it in 2004.
The lottery on 9 January will be the result of a 14th consecutive rollover. According to new Camelot rules, if a direct winner is not found the prize money will be shared by winners in the next prize tier who have five winning numbers, along with the bonus ball.
A National Lottery spokesperson said: "We now have a record-breaking Lotto Jackpot up for grabs this Saturday [9 January] and it has to be won this weekend no matter what.
"If one person banks Saturday's estimated £57.8m jackpot, they will be the biggest Lotto jackpot winner ever created in the UK. If none of our players match all six numbers on Saturday night, then the colossal jackpot prize will be shared among the winners in the next winning prize tier, potentially creating several multi-millionaires."
The Millionaire Raffle, which "guarantees a £1m prize in every draw", is also up for grabs.
In October, the National Lottery increased the number of balls from 49 to 59, reducing the chances of winning to one in 45 million. Lottery operator Camelot, however, maintains the increase in balls increases the chances of winning some of the smaller prizes.
Prior to the 6 January draw, the lottery's website crashed multiple times following a surge in visitors trying to buy last-minute tickets. Camelot said it managed to sell 200 tickets an hour before sales closed ahead of the draw.
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