<P> The National Lottery is a jackpot system with the majority of winnings going to those few players who pick all six numbers . The average percentage return is the share of the ticket sales devoted to prize funds , about 45 % ( i.e. , 45 % of the money spent on tickets would be won in prizes ) . The spread of returns will be very wide and influenced by several factors that change week - by - week ( e.g. the number of tickets sold , the `` distinctiveness '' and popularity of the winning numbers ) . Over an extremely long period ( tens of millions of draws ) the return on investment would approach the average , about 45 % ( a 55 % loss ) . Over a shorter period there is a very small chance of a big win , but otherwise an average return of less than 45 % ; a numerical experiment using 10,000 random sets of numbers each week for 3 years found that , had the tickets been bought , the rate of return would have been less than 30 % . </P>
<P> The National Lottery is a jackpot system with the majority of winnings going to those few players who pick all six numbers . The average percentage return is the share of the ticket sales devoted to prize funds , about 45 % ( i.e. , 45 % of the money spent on tickets would be won in prizes ) . The spread of returns will be very wide and influenced by several factors that change week - by - week ( e.g. the number of tickets sold , the `` distinctiveness '' and popularity of the winning numbers ) . Over an extremely long period ( tens of millions of draws ) the return on investment would approach the average , about 45 % ( a 55 % loss ) . Over a shorter period there is a very small chance of a big win , but otherwise an average return of less than 45 % ; a numerical experiment using 10,000 random sets of numbers each week for 3 years found that , had the tickets been bought , the rate of return would have been less than 30 % . </P>
where does the money from lottery come from
where does the money from lottery come from
ticket sales
ticket sales