- A Virtual UK National Lottery ("virtual lottery") entry may not be
submitted via a machine or e-mail address in the following Internet
domains:
This is purely to ensure impartiality because some users in those domains have
privileged access to the virtual lottery system, some are directly
associated with prize sponsorship and some simply aren't readily
"identifiable" (i.e. anonymous e-mail). There is a further list of
banned users who have transgressed the single entry
rule mentioned later in this document.
- Entrants must be at least 16 years of age.
- A virtual lottery draw uses the same 7 winning balls
that the real UK National Lottery ("real lottery"), as run by Camelot Group
plc, uses for its draw. At the same time as the real lottery switched to 2
draws a week (from Wednesday 5th February 1997 onwards), the virtual lottery
also switched to twice-weekly draws on the same days.
- An entry consists of 6 unique integer numbers selected in the range
1 to 49, the entrant's valid e-mail address and
a numeric (positive integer) answer to a question relating
to information held on this WWW server. If an entry contains an
invalid set of 6 numbers, an invalid e-mail address (i.e. messages sent to
that address "bounce" back to the sender without being received) or
an incorrect answer, then it will be considered null and void.
The closing dates for draw entries is
currently 7.30pm GMT on the
Wednesday and Saturday draw days
of the real lottery. An entrant can
only submit an entry for the next draw - multi-draw submissions are not
accepted.
- The submission of an entry to this WWW server is free and will
generate a unique "claim security code", which must be retained to be quoted
later if the entrant wins the draw prize. The claim security code will only be
issued at the time of the submission - any request at a later date for the
claim security code of a particular submission will be refused.
- Only one entry per person per draw is permitted. Attempts to submit a
second entry for a draw using the same e-mail address will be rejected with
no further action being taken. If other attempts to circumvent this rule
are detected (e.g. by using two e-mail addresses to submit two entries on
behalf of the same person), then all entries relating to that person for that
draw will be considered null and void and may result in the banning of
that person from all future draws.
- The answer to the latest virtual lottery question may not be made
publicly available elsewhere on the Internet
prior to the closing date of the virtual lottery that the question applies to.
Anyone revealing such an answer publicly (e.g. via the Web, newsgroup,
mailing list or FTP site) before the closing date is likely to receive a
lifetime ban from the virtual lottery. This new rule came into effect at
6.40pm BST on Sunday 26th April 1998, but will not be retro-applied.
No action will be taken against any users who use the aforementioned answer
in a virtual lottery (unless they are the person who posted the answer up !)
but, in order to make the virtual lottery as fair as possible, users are
encouraged to e-mail me with details of who has transgressed this rule.
- The winner of a virtual lottery will be the person whose
entry has matched the most numbers when compared to the real lottery
numbers [using the real lottery comparison rules],
according to this ascending order: 4-match, 5-match, 5+bonus, 6-match
and has also correctly
answered the question posed on the entry form.
If there is more than one person who has achieved this, then a single winner is
drawn randomly from those people, using a random winner-generating computer
program. If it is discovered that the single winner has an invalid e-mail
address, then that entry is not only null and void, but the prize is also
considered unwon for that virtual lottery draw.
Note: If you match less than 4 real lottery numbers or answer the question
incorrectly, you cannot win a prize.
- If there is a dispute as to the correctness of the answer given by an
entrant, then the answer (which is a positive integer) on the WWW pages at
the time of the draw is taken as the correct answer [even if it is factually
wrong and different to the separately maintained question/answer list].
- Winners will be informed by e-mail by the first working day after the draw
has taken place. They must then supply their remaining personal details
(i.e. full name and address) and the claim security code via a special form
provided on this WWW server.
Failure to fill in the form correctly (e.g. missing name or address or
wrong claim security code) will not nullify the win, but failure to submit a
correct form within the claim expiry date, currently 7.30pm GMT
on the
Wednesday or
Saturday
following the win, will result in the prize being
forfeited and "rolled over" to the next draw.
- If the draw prize isn't won, it is "rolled over" to (i.e. added onto the
prize money of) the next virtual lottery draw. Unlike the real lottery,
there is no limit to the number of virtual lottery rollovers.
- The current draw prize is
50 Swiss Francs (approx. £25),
plus any
rollover from the previous draw as detailed above. This is paid into an
PlusLotto gaming account (one is created for the winner
if they don't already have one) and can be either withdrawn from there
or used to play PlusLotto or InterLotto on-line games. Any
payment disputes will be
resolved by PlusLotto.
- The e-mail address of the winner of a virtual lottery will be
publicised on the UK National Lottery pages and possibly elsewhere on the
Internet. However, other details such as the name and county/country of the
winner will remain anonymous, unless the winner requests "publicity".
- Any particular virtual lottery draw can be cancelled with no prior notice,
in which case all entries for that draw will be considered null and void and
the prize will be rolled over to the next draw. The only time this should occur
should be due to a serious technical problem (i.e. extended loss of network
connection or software/hardware failure).
![[Virtual UK National Lottery Logo]](/Virtual/Virtual.gif){kind=small}
![[Virtual Lottery]](/nav/Virtual.gif){kind=small}