So why, oh why, did these numbers end up screwed into a little ball and tossed in the rubbish bin of my local friendly Lottery Shop? I’ll tell you why, it’s because I’d gone in to the shop, in all good faith, and with my last ever pound coin only to be told that those greedy money grabbing buggers at Camelot had doubled the ticket price!
“Sorry Magic, you’ll need two of those pound coins now ‘two be in it two win it’.” Mark is very droll that is my local news agent- “Yeah cheers, Mark.” However, he did kindly offer to lend me the extra quid until Monday. “Hummph” snorts I, “No tah, Mark, I’ll not give those conniving Canadians at Camelot a single Euro more.” This, upon reflection, was a great pity really because those above numbers appear to have been the winning ones.
I decided to do some research into the 100% price hike of the Lotto. First port of call was their website. Camelot state: “Lotto has changed because our players have told us, through extensive consumer research, that they want more ways to win more money on Lotto. Millions of people play Lotto each and every week and it is important for us to listen to what they think of the game. That’s exactly what we have done, and we believe this is the right time to introduce a re-energised Lotto.”
Oh, is it? Well, they didn’t ask me. They also didn’t ask anyone I know. I did a straw poll with the people I knew and out of a hundred and twenty people not one had been asked or “extensively researched” or even listened too. And none of those colleagues were particularly bothered about a ‘re-energised Lotto’ either. In fact the consensus seemed to be that a pound was a good bet. As Mark, in the shop mused: “Most people don’t mind dipping into their pockets for a quid but now it’s more there is a genuine reluctance.”
The Express entered the fray and reported that: “Angry players [have] hit out at ‘fat cat’ wages at Camelot, whose chief executive, Dianne Thompson, earns £1 million a year plus a performance bonus.” Hmmm, that performance bonus might be about to stall, Miss Dianne. The Express continued: “... more than half of players feel ownership of Camelot by the Canadian Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is ‘bad for the UK’.” Presumably, this ownership is not bad for the retired pedagogues of Canada’s most populated province though.
Apparently, in order to pay for increases of the top and bottom prize levels, “Camelot gutted the mid-level prizes.” Matching five numbers will now give you an average of £1,000 (that’s a drop of 33% from the old payout). “Likewise,” the Express reported, “average payout for matching five numbers and the bonus ball is halved, falling 50% from £100,000 to £50,000.”
Tell you what, let’s ditch it altogether and all go back to the good ole Football Pools or play the Health lottery, Smiths was over run with people changing.
Toodle pip Magic
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