How to Play

In the Thunderball draw, part of the National Lottery in the UK, players must pick five numbers of between 1 and 39, and a Thunderball number of between 1 and 14.

Prizes are won for matching numbers, from the main draw, with additional payouts where a player matches the Thunderball as well. By matching only the Thunderball players win a prize of £3.

The game offers a guaranteed top prize of £500,000 for matching all 5 balls.

Thunderball draws take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with the Wednesday and Friday draws being shown on the official National Lottery website, whilst the Saturday draw is shown live on BBC One.

Entry to the Thunderball is £1 per ticket.

License and Operation

There are 4 lottery-drawing games in the UK operated by the Camelot Group who were given the National Lottery license on three consecutive occasions in 1994, 2001 and 2007.

Roughly one third of all money raised through National Lottery games in the UK is paid out to good causes.

Interesting Facts

The rules of the Thunderball draw have changed significantly since the first draw on 12^th June 1999. The draw originally took place only once a week, on Saturdays.

The original jackpot was only £250,000 and there were no prizes for matching only the Thunderball, whilst players only picked numbers from a grid of 1 to 34.