No jackpot rollover
The official Game Procedures state that, because Thunderball uses fixed prizes, prize money is not carried over when the top prize is not won.
Thunderball prize guide
Thunderball has nine standard prize tiers, from £3 for matching only the Thunderball to £500,000 for matching all five main numbers plus the Thunderball. The top-prize odds are 1 in 8,060,598 and the official overall chance of winning any prize is approximately 1 in 13.
These are the current National Lottery Thunderball prize categories and approximate odds. The figures are per £1 line. The table is ordered from the £500,000 top prize down to the easiest single prize tier.
| Match | Standard prize | Approx. odds per line |
|---|---|---|
| 5 main + Thunderball | £500,000 | 1 in 8,060,598 |
| 5 main | £5,000 | 1 in 620,046 |
| 4 main + Thunderball | £250 | 1 in 47,416 |
| 4 main | £100 | 1 in 3,648 |
| 3 main + Thunderball | £20 | 1 in 1,437 |
| 3 main | £10 | 1 in 111 |
| 2 main + Thunderball | £10 | 1 in 135 |
| 1 main + Thunderball | £5 | 1 in 35 |
| Thunderball only | £3 | 1 in 29 |
| Any standard prize | — | 1 in 13 |
There is no hidden weighting in the calculation. A valid Thunderball line is five different main numbers from 1–39, plus one Thunderball from a separate 1–14 pool.
There are 575,757 possible ways to choose five main numbers from 39. Each of those five-number combinations can then be paired with any of the 14 possible Thunderballs.
That gives 575,757 × 14 = 8,060,598 complete 5+1 combinations. One complete combination is drawn, so one specific valid line has a 1 in 8,060,598 chance of matching all six required positions for the top prize.
Your choice of numbers does not change that probability. Birthdays, consecutive numbers, hot numbers, cold numbers and random numbers are all just different valid combinations.
Enter the number of different Thunderball lines you would play in one draw. The calculator shows the exact coverage of the 8,060,598 possible top-prize combinations and the £1-per-line cost.
This calculates the 5 main + Thunderball top-prize chance only. It does not estimate the combined chance of lower-tier prizes.
Repeating exactly the same complete line does not cover an additional top-prize combination. For this calculation, each line is assumed to be distinct.
This is the feature that makes Thunderball fundamentally different from a conventional jackpot game. The standard £500,000 top prize does not increase because nobody won the previous draw.
The official Game Procedures state that, because Thunderball uses fixed prizes, prize money is not carried over when the top prize is not won.
The headline prize is not normally divided between top-prize winners. Multiple winning tickets can each receive the standard £500,000 prize.
National Lottery procedures allow prizes to be capped in exceptional circumstances. The published trigger is when total Thunderball prizes payable exceed four times the total value of entries for that draw.
The separate Thunderball pool creates a few results that are easy to misread if you only look at the number of main balls matched.
Matching three main numbers is approximately 1 in 111. Matching two main numbers and the separate Thunderball is approximately 1 in 135. The Thunderball requirement makes the second combination more restrictive even though it contains fewer main matches.
Matching only the Thunderball is approximately 1 in 29, but it is just one of nine winning categories. When all winning categories are combined, the National Lottery publishes the overall chance of any prize as approximately 1 in 13.
Yes. The five main numbers and Thunderball are drawn from separate pools. A number such as 7 can therefore appear among the main five and also be the Thunderball in the same draw.
No. Historical frequency describes what has already happened. It does not alter the number of valid combinations in the next draw. A particular complete line remains one of 8,060,598 possibilities.
Thunderball has shorter top-prize odds than Set For Life, Lotto and EuroMillions, but the prizes are not equivalent. A shorter probability does not automatically mean better value: each game offers a different prize structure and line price.
| Game | Top-prize odds | Current line price | Odds compared with Thunderball |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderball | 1 in 8,060,598 | £1.00 | Baseline |
| Set For Life | 1 in 15,339,390 | £1.50 | About 1.9× longer |
| Lotto | 1 in 45,057,474 | £2.00 | About 5.6× longer |
| EuroMillions | 1 in 139,838,160 | £2.50 | About 17.3× longer |
Prizes and odds answer the probability question. From here you can check the latest draw, winner status, generate a line or browse Thunderball history and past results.
Game format, draw schedule, latest routes and the complete Thunderball overview.
Check the newest five main numbers, Thunderball and tonight’s draw state.
See the latest winner count, £500,000 top-prize status and prize breakdown.
Generate a valid five-number line plus one separate Thunderball.
See how the game moved from 1–34 and a £250,000 top prize to today’s format.
Search past winning numbers and year-by-year draw statistics back to 1999.
Current Thunderball prizes, game format and operator caveats were checked against National Lottery material on 22 August 2026. Combination calculations on this page are MLL calculations from the published game matrices.
MLL is an independent information site. Prize claims and ticket validation should always be handled through the official operator.