The odds of matching the Thunderball winning numbers
Probabilities of matching the Thunderball winning numbers
The Thunderball was hard to beat in the past but following the changes that took place on May 12 2010 things didn’t get any easier, quite the opposite. Some things remained unchanged, such as the price of the ticket which still costs only £1 and the number of Thunderballs remained the same at 14. The changes impact the way the actual draws take place, the amount of money that players can win and most important, the chances of players to win the jackpot.
More money to be won
Overall the changes were not welcomed by the vast majority of players, but nobody complained when the jackpot prize was doubled. Instead of the traditional £250,000 jackpot, players can now hope to win a massive amount of £500,000 which explains why in the following weeks after the changes were implemented, the number of old tickets soared. Those who are familiar with the Dream Number lottery are surely aware of the fact that the prices are now almost the same, which is not necessarily a good thing.
The reason is that while the prizes have been boosted, so did the number of main balls, which the lottery operator Camelot regarded as imperative. As a result the odds of winning have steeply decreased, and now a player has one chance in eight millions to win when playing the Thunderball. If we were to compare these figures with the chances that players have to win when playing traditional lotto, it might appear that this game is still the better choice. The problem is that despite the odds being one in 14 million, the lottery pays millions of pounds compared to the somewhat puny £500,000.
More ways to win with the new Thunderball
In order to compensate for the fact that the odds are slowly but steadily moving closer to what players enjoy in regular lotto, Camelot boosted the second tier prizes. The audience was hoping for a new prize that would be awarded for matching two main balls, but what they got instead was slightly different. In the new version of the game, one can win by matching only the Thunderball but the amount is absurdly low and it currently stands at £3.
Another way to improve your chances is to play more tickets or to do so more often, something that is possible given the fact that there are 3 draws each week. On Friday players can once again put their luck to the test, as the Thunderball is the only important lottery in the United Kingdom that has three draws.
Some regard it as pure greed from Camelot, others are glad that they have another chance to win but so far the numbers don’t add up. Most of those who want to gamble on Friday night prefer the Euro millions because although the chances are slightly worse, they can hope to win tens of millions of pounds.
Check out the Common winning numbers in recent UK Lottery draws now.
