Thunderball launches
Tickets went on sale on 7 June and the first Saturday draw took place on 12 June. The original game used five numbers from 1–34 plus one Thunderball from 1–14, with a fixed £250,000 top prize.
From one Saturday draw to four draws a week
Thunderball began in June 1999 as Camelot’s smaller-prize alternative to the main National Lottery draw. It started with one Saturday draw, five main numbers from 1–34 and a £250,000 top prize. More than 25 years later, it has a 1–39 main-number pool, a £500,000 top prize and four draws every week.
Thunderball was introduced by Camelot in June 1999. Tickets went on sale on Monday 7 June and the first draw took place on Saturday 12 June 1999.
The clearest contemporary explanation for why Thunderball was created comes from Camelot’s evidence to Parliament. Camelot said its research showed that while players liked large-jackpot lottery games, they also wanted a game offering a greater chance of winning smaller prizes.
That is exactly how the original Thunderball was structured. A line cost £1, players chose five main numbers from 1–34 plus one Thunderball from 1–14, the top prize was fixed at £250,000 and there were no jackpot rollovers.
There is no strong primary source naming one individual as the personal “inventor” of Thunderball. The evidence supports describing it as a game introduced and developed by Camelot, then the operator of The National Lottery, rather than attributing it to a single named creator.
Thunderball’s first draw took place on a Saturday. The winning line was 8, 26, 28, 31 and 32, with Thunderball 6.
The launch draw was very different from today’s version even though the basic 5 + 1 idea was already in place. The main-number pool stopped at 34, not 39, and the headline prize was £250,000.
Thunderball was also a once-a-week game. Contemporary and historical accounts place the draw inside the new BBC National Lottery programme Winning Lines, presented at launch by Simon Mayo.
The original format gave the top prize shorter odds than today’s game because there were fewer main-number combinations. That would change dramatically in 2010.
Thunderball did not arrive in its current form. Its draw schedule and number matrix were expanded in stages over more than two decades.
Tickets went on sale on 7 June and the first Saturday draw took place on 12 June. The original game used five numbers from 1–34 plus one Thunderball from 1–14, with a fixed £250,000 top prize.
Thunderball moved from one draw a week to two, adding Wednesday alongside the original Saturday draw.
Historical draw records note the introduction of Smartplay Halogen II machines, part of the game’s operational refresh before the larger 2010 changes.
Five extra main balls were added, taking the pool from 34 to 39. The top prize doubled from £250,000 to £500,000 and a new £3 prize for matching only the Thunderball was introduced.
The first Friday Thunderball draw took place two days after the new 1–39 format began.
The 1,000th draw arrived a little over 11 years after the game began.
Five tickets matched all five main numbers plus the Thunderball, with each winning the fixed £500,000 top prize.
A Tuesday draw joined Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, creating the four-draw weekly schedule that Thunderball still uses today.
The Fourth National Lottery Licence began and Allwyn formally took over from Camelot. Thunderball continued as an existing licensed National Lottery game.
May 2010 changed both the size of the prize and the shape of the odds. The top prize doubled, but adding five more main numbers made matching all five plus the Thunderball harder.
| Feature | Original Thunderball | Current-format Thunderball |
|---|---|---|
| Main numbers | 5 from 1–34 | 5 from 1–39 |
| Thunderball | 1 from 1–14 | 1 from 1–14 |
| Top prize | £250,000 | £500,000 |
| Top-prize odds | 1 in 3,895,584 | 1 in 8,060,598 |
| Overall prize odds | About 1 in 18.2 | About 1 in 13 |
| Lowest prize | £5 · 1 main + Thunderball | £3 · Thunderball only |
| Draws each week | 1 at launch | 4 |
| Line price | £1 | £1 |
There is no reliable public record naming one individual as “the inventor of Thunderball”. The game was a Camelot product developed inside a much larger National Lottery operation, with commercial leadership, technical suppliers and a newly created independent regulator all playing different roles.
Chaired Camelot during the launch period. Camelot’s November 1999 interim results carried his statement describing Thunderball and Big Draw 2000 as part of a period of “game innovation”.
Camelot’s chief executive when Thunderball launched. Parliamentary records later list Holley alongside Russell as the senior executive leadership of the operator during this period.
The Secretary of State responsible for National Lottery policy and public appointments at DCMS when Thunderball launched. He appointed the members of the new National Lottery Commission.
Chaired the National Lottery Commission from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000. The Commission replaced OFLOT just weeks before Thunderball launched.
Joined the Commission in April 1999 as chief executive. The regulator’s role was distinct from Camelot’s: licensing, propriety and player protection rather than designing the game.
The first Thunderball draw was broadcast inside Winning Lines, the new BBC National Lottery programme presented at launch by Simon Mayo.
Camelot itself was a consortium. Parliamentary evidence from the period lists ICL, Cadbury Schweppes, De La Rue and Racal Electronics as its four shareholders. The wider National Lottery technology platform also relied on specialist lottery software and infrastructure suppliers. That does not mean every partner personally designed Thunderball; it shows the scale of the system in which the game was created and operated.
Developed and introduced Thunderball as part of The National Lottery product portfolio.
Part of the original Camelot consortium and the wider technology/infrastructure environment behind the Lottery.
Part of the consortium operating the National Lottery during Thunderball’s launch era.
Security-printing specialist and Camelot shareholder during the first licence period.
Consumer and retail expertise formed part of Camelot’s original consortium model.
Supplied core lottery applications software to the UK National Lottery. Parliamentary records later show how central that software relationship was to Camelot’s operation.
Thunderball has always been a physical ball draw rather than a simple webpage random-number generator. Historical draw records identify the machines, ball sets and later the Smartplay machine family used to conduct the game.
Historical National Lottery records identify Smartplay’s Halogen family with Thunderball. The original era used the earlier Halogen model; around the 2009–2010 overhaul, Thunderball moved to the newer Halogen II generation.
Individual Thunderball draw records use machine names such as Excalibur 1, Excalibur 2, Excalibur 3 and, in 2026 records, Excalibur 6. The machine can change from draw to draw, as can the numbered ball set.
The National Lottery is regulated by the Gambling Commission, whose statutory duties include ensuring that every National Lottery game is run with due propriety and that participants’ interests are protected.
A 2026 Gambling Commission freedom-of-information response confirms that Allwyn is accredited to the World Lottery Association Security Control Standard, including controls around the integrity of lottery draws and products.
The same response says the Commission holds more detailed information about draw verification, machine testing, anomaly detection and audit procedures, but declined to publish some of those operational details because it considers them commercially/security sensitive.
Yes, although exact clones are unusual. Thunderball belongs to a wider family of two-pool draw games: players choose a group of main numbers and then a separate special ball. What makes Thunderball distinctive is the combination of a £1 line, a fixed £500,000 top prize and its 5/39 + 1/14 matrix.
| Game | Jurisdiction | Broad structure | How it differs from Thunderball |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set For Life | United Kingdom | 5 main numbers + 1 Life Ball | Same National Lottery family, but the top prizes are monthly payments rather than a £500,000 lump sum. |
| Millionaire for Life | United States · multi-state | 5 from 58 + 1 Millionaire Ball from 5 | Launched in 2026 with nine prize levels, but its top prizes are lifetime annuities and a line costs $5. |
| South Africa PowerBall | South Africa | 5 main numbers + 1 separate PowerBall | Structurally similar two-pool draw, but it is designed around a rolling jackpot rather than Thunderball’s fixed top prize. |
| EuroMillions | Multiple European countries | 5 main numbers + 2 Lucky Stars | Also uses separate number pools, but has two special numbers and a large rolling jackpot. |
| Powerball | United States / UK access | 5 main numbers + 1 Powerball | The same broad 5 + 1 architecture, but with a much larger matrix and jackpot-led prize structure. |
There are useful official and contemporary measures, but they answer slightly different questions. Historic sales tell us how much was spent; modern survey data tells us what share of adults report buying a Thunderball ticket.
A House of Commons research paper records Thunderball sales peaking at £6.4 million in its first week.
Camelot’s 1999 interim results reported £70.7 million of Thunderball sales across the first 14 weeks.
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain found 4% of adults had bought Thunderball in the previous four weeks.
Camelot’s £70.7 million over the first 14 weeks works out at roughly £5.05 million per week. By 2001, a Parliamentary research paper said weekly Thunderball sales were averaging about £4.5 million.
For current popularity, the Gambling Commission’s first-year Gambling Survey for Great Britain is more useful than trying to convert sales into a player count. It found that 4% of adults aged 18+ had purchased a Thunderball ticket in the previous four weeks; the figure was 5% among men and 3% among women.
That survey is an estimate from a sample, not a census, so MLL does not turn the 4% figure into an unsupported “X million people play Thunderball” claim.
Thunderball has had two National Lottery operators. Camelot introduced the game and ran it through the first three National Lottery licences. Allwyn became operator when the Fourth Licence started in February 2024.
Introduced Thunderball, expanded the draw week and carried out the major 2010 game change.
Took over The National Lottery under the ten-year Fourth Licence, including the existing Thunderball licence.
As of 22 August 2026, Allwyn UK is chaired by Justin King CBE. Chief Executive Andria Vidler is stepping down following the completion of major Fourth Licence technology and infrastructure milestones. Allwyn has appointed Phil Walker as Interim Chief Executive with effect from 7 September 2026. Other current senior leaders include CFO Alan Artz and Managing Director, Digital Richard Dawkins. The Gambling Commission remains the statutory regulator, with Sarah Gardner serving as Acting Chief Executive.
Leads the Allwyn UK Board during the Fourth National Lottery Licence.
Remains listed as CEO on Allwyn's leadership page as of 22 August 2026, but is stepping down as part of the announced leadership transition.
Appointed Interim Chief Executive of Allwyn UK with effect from 7 September 2026.
Part of Allwyn's current executive leadership team and involved in the transition from the Third to Fourth Licence.
Leads digital performance and development of the draw-based games portfolio.
Acting Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, which regulates the National Lottery and oversees player protection and licence compliance.
The modern game still keeps the basic idea Camelot launched in 1999: a smaller fixed top prize and shorter top-prize odds than the main giant-jackpot games. What changed was the size of the main pool, the top prize and how often the draw happens.
Today a line uses five main numbers from 1–39 and one Thunderball from 1–14. The standard top prize is £500,000 and the game has nine prize tiers.
Draws now take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. For the newest numbers and draw status, use Thunderball results; for the full current prize structure, use Thunderball prizes & odds.
The history page explains how the game reached its current form. From here you can move to today’s result, winner status, prize odds, random numbers or the complete draw archive.
How the modern game works, draw schedule and the main Thunderball routes.
See the newest winning numbers and tonight’s draw state.
Check the £500,000 winner count and full latest prize breakdown.
Create a valid random five-number line plus one Thunderball.
See every current prize tier and how the modern 1–39 game changes the top-prize odds.
Browse every recorded Thunderball draw from 1999 and compare the original and current number eras.
Historical claims on this page use contemporary Camelot material, Parliamentary records, Gambling Commission statistics and draw archives. Where a secondary historical archive is used, it is not presented as an official operator source.
Research checked 22 August 2026. Historic sales figures are nominal values reported at the time and have not been adjusted for inflation.