The thought of winning the lottery and being able to say goodbye to their responsibilities and issues is something that delights and excites many people. If you are the sort pf person that daydreams, it is likely that you imagine a world that is completely removed from your current lifestyle. How good would it be if you were able to pay off your mortgage, quit your job and never have to worry about money ever again? Okay, for the vast majority of people this is a dream that will never come true but if you are having a bad day, there is a lot to be said for thinking about what might be.

Of course, given the changes in the National Lottery in the United Kingdom, it is even less likely that you will strike the jackpot and win a life changing amount of cash. The fact that the number of balls in use with the lottery has increased may not seem like a big deal on the surface of things but when it comes to your chances of winning the lottery, it will have a big impact.

Your odds of winning the lottery have now risen sharply and in all honesty, there is a greater likelihood of you seeing the Loch Ness Monster going for a paddle in the Thames beside the Houses of Parliament than there is of you winning the National Lottery. That is something for you to think about when it comes to paying out the money to get a lottery or ticket or two when you are in the local shop.

Someone has to win

However, there has to be a winner and these lucky people have all managed to beat the odds and triumph. The fact that someone has to win is enough to keep playing. This means that there will always be a demand for the National Lottery and with the odds of someone winning now being higher, it means that the prize is more likely to rollover on a regular basis. This is something that interests a lot of people because it should ensure that the prize money is higher.

When a lottery prize isn’t won, the amount of money on offer starts to escalate quickly because you’ll find that more people buy tickets in the hope of winning the prize. This pushes the prize money up even higher, which means that before you know it, the National Lottery becomes a tantalising prize that most people are happy to pay for. Most people know that they won’t win it but when there is a chance, even a slim chance, it is sometimes worth getting involved.

Of course, when people don’t win the lottery, there can be a number of different reactions. The majority of people will shrug it off, realising that the odds were heavily stacked against them. Some people will get angry, no doubt declaring it to be a fix but then there will also be some people who try and take matters into their own hands.

A lot of money was up for grabs in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the start of 2016 saw a great sum of money up for grabs and it got to the stage where the lottery had to be won. This meant that a smaller number of balls could be matched for the big prize, which only added to the excitement. There was a total of £66m up for grabs and it was shared by two winners. Well, it should have been but one of the lucky winners is yet to come forward and claim the prize. As you would expect, this has caused some people to be confused because who would buy a ticket and not claim their winnings, especially when the winnings were of this scale?

This has provided some people with an idea and it is probably no surprise to learn that some people have made fraudulent claims with respect to the remaining winning lottery ticket. Camelot have announced that they will take action against anyone who tries to claim the prize in a fraudulent manner. Supposedly hundreds of people have come forward to claim that they bought the winning ticket only to have lost it or found that it has been damaged or stolen.

While the thought of getting your hands on all that money is appealing, the thought of having to hire a criminal defence solicitor to represent you in a fraud trial is surely unappealing?

Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.