Lottery Results

Thunderball lottery results

The Thunderball lottery is a part of the UK National lottery family. On this site you can find the latest thunderball results and thunderball numbers for the Friday, Saturday and Wednesday thunderball lotto draws

For the latest thunderball lottery numbers please visit our Thunderball Results page. On this page you will find the initial winning numbers from each draw, and then a full lottery prize breakdown detailing how many people in that thunderball draw won which prize category and how much.

Thunderball Game Information

Thunderball was launched on the 7th of June 1999, with the first ever Thunderball draw taking place on Saturday the 12th of June 1999. At the time of launch Thunderball was a saturday only game, however on the 23rd of October 2002 the Wednesday draw was added making it a twice per week game.

Camelot say that the Thunderball game is the UK lottery players best chance to win £500,000 on a £1 lottery ticket spend. The top prize which is the half a million (£500,000) is a fixed prize as are the other prize funds in this game. In theory the top prize is never shared, although Camelot do say that in exceptional circumstances the prize may be shared depending on the numbers of prize winners in one lotto fund category.

Thunderball changes

On May the 9th 2010 the rules of Thunderball had some massive changes, below are the changes:

Main numbers were increased from 1 to 34 to 1 to 39
Prize introduced for matching just the Thunderball
Friday Thunderball draw introduced, making it three times per week being Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights
Prize for matching 5 main numbers and the thunderball increased from £250,000 to £500,000

After the changes the odds of winning the Thunderball lottery jackpot of £500,000 is now 1 in 8,060,598, before the changes it was 1 in 3,895,584 when it was 1 to 34 (not 1 to 39). However the overall odds of winning any prize when playing Thunderball has also improved, meaning more people should win as a result of the changes.

As mentioned above Thunderball is played every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights in the United Kingdom and is televised live on BBC1. The game is played by drawing 5 main numbers from 1 to 39, and a thunderball from 1 to 14, and players can then win a prize from matching just the thunderball upto the top prize which is for matching the 5 main numbers and the thunderball to win £500,000. A breakdown of the prize categories for UK Thunderball lottery is below.

Odds of winning Thunderball

Match                                                         Win                      Odds of winning
5 numbers and Thunderball                  £500,000           1 in 8,060,598
5 numbers                                                 £5,000             1 in 620,046
4 main and Thunderball                        £250                 1 in 47,415
4 main numbers                                      £100                 1 in 3,647
3 main and thunderball                         £20                   1 in 1,437
3 main numbers                                      £10                   1 in 111
2 main and Thunderball                        £10                  1 in 135
1 main and Thunderball                        £5                     1 in 35
Thunderball only                                    £3                     1 in 14

Where does the Thunderball lottery entry money go?

The £1 entry fee in the UK to play the Thunderball lotto is distributed as follows:

50% goes to the winning prize fund
28% goes to UK good causes council
12% goes as a tax to the UK government
5% goes to the retailers as their commision
4.5% goes to Camelot to cover the costs of running the lottery game
0.5% goes to Camelot as it’s profit margin

Claim Thunderball lotto winnings

To claim winnings from the Thunderball lottery game, you have 180 days from the draw date to produce the winning tickets and claim the money owed. Claiming prize funds can be done in a number of different ways, and for the latest information we always suggest calling the National lottery line on 08459 100 000. However below is the rough procedure at the time of publishing this page (05/2011). Always sign the back of your lotto tickets, tickets need to be signed to make a claim, and the legal right of ownership of a ticket is with the holder not who bought it, so sign it and make it yours.

Thunderball lotto Winnings upto £100 can be claimed in cash from any local retailer, these official outlets may also payout upto £500 however they do not have to do so.

Thunderball lottery winnings upto £50,000 are normally able to be claimed at most main post offices and are paid via cheque, with the option of recieving the first £500 in cash. A claim form and ID are required to claim over £500. Or prizes upto £50,000 can be claimed via post (if your brave enough to post your ticket off!) with a completed lottery claim form to The National Lottery, P.O. Box 287, Watford WD18 9TT. Call the line 08459 100 000 to get a claim form, and for obvious reasons Camelot suggest you send your ticket via an insured recorded delivery service. Again prizes to be paid by cheque within 5 working days of recipt.

Thunderball Lottery winnings over £50,000 must be claimed in person and will be paid either by cheque or direct credit into a UK current account. Contact the above mentioned national lottery line to find out how to claim your prize.