UK National Lottery: Camelot launches daily lottery
Camelot is launching its latest attempt to try revive public interest in the lottery by starting a daily draw which will offer better odds of winning smaller prizes.
But the new Daily Play game faces competition from a rival draw being launched next month.
Vernons, best known for running football pools, claim its Florida 4 game will offer a 20 per cent chance of winning as opposed to 12.5 per cent on Daily Play.
Players on the £1 Daily Play draw - which takes place at 8.30pm, six days a week - select seven numbers from a list of 27 or can opt for the retailer's terminal to pick the numbers at random.
Those who match four numbers get £5, five numbers gets £30, six numbers gets £300, and all seven wins a jackpot of £30,000.
The game also offers a consolation prize for players who fail to match any numbers with a free entry in a subsequent draw.
The Florida 4 game, which is due to launch on October 7 on the Vernons web site, is named because it uses numbers from a draw which takes place every day in the US.
Players place a fixed bet by choosing between one and four numbers out of a list of 36.
Those who pay £1 and select just one number win £5 if it is among the four numbers drawn.
The prize money increases the more numbers the player picks, up to a jackpot of £30,000 for matching all four.
While the Florida 4 game offers a better chance of winning the top prize - one in almost 59,000 against one in 888,000 on Daily Draw - those who fail to get all four numbers win nothing.
Vernons spokesman Peter Ammundsen claimed: "Frankly, the National Lottery Daily Draw game looks poor value.
"We were aware that they were developing a daily draw game but we anticipated that they would make it more appealing to the public."
Camelot said: "We have never been afraid of competition and we will be happy to compare our sales figures after a year of being in the market.
"Daily Play offers a one in eight chance of winning a prize - and players can also be confident that 28p from every ticket they buy goes to good causes."
"Daily Play offers a one in eight chance of winning a prize - and players can also be confident that 28p from every ticket they buy goes to good causes" - Camelot