Thunderball Prizes
During the early days, the top prize was 250,000 GBP and Thunderball alone did not win you anything. Also, players had to pick the 5 main number from a pool of 1 to 34 But after 9 th May 2010, Thunderball alone prize of 3 GBP was introduced, the top prize was doubled to 500,000 GBP, number pool was increased to 39 and the draws were also held. Thunderball offers minimum prize of £3 for matching Thunderball and goes up with the combination of the main balls and the Thunderball until you make the match of the 5 main balls and the thunderball which is the jackpot winning combination for the prize worth £500,000. You will have nine different prize tires in the thunderball.
Thunderball draws are held every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The odds of winning a prize are 1 in 13 and there are guaranteed cash rewards of up to £500,000.
How to Play
Five main numbers are randomly selected in every draw from a ball pool of 1 to 39. Another number between 1 and 14, known as the Thunderball, is then drawn from a separate machine. There are nine fixed prizes, so even if there are multiple ticket holders who match five main numbers plus the Thunderball, they will receive £500,000 each rather than having to share it.
When you join an online Thunderball syndicate, you are buying into a group which has already bought a number of entries into the specified draw. Rather than selecting which numbers you want to play, you just have to decide how many shares you would like to purchase.
As you buy more shares, you are increasing the percentage of any prize you would receive if the syndicate were to win. For example, if there were 10 available shares and you chose to buy five of them, you would pocket half of any prize won by the group. If you bought just one share, you would still receive 10 percent of any prize won.
National Lottery Thunderball Prizes
If the syndicate does win, you will automatically be paid any prizes you are due, so there is no need to get in touch. You just have to check to see if you are contacted.
Odds and Prizes
The aim of the game in Thunderball is to match all five main numbers and the Thunderball to scoop the £500,000 jackpot, but prizes are even given away for matching just the Thunderball.
| Prize Category | Prize | Odds on a single ticket | Odds in an example syndicate playing 10 lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match 5 + Thunderball | £500,000 | 1 in 8,060,598 | 1 in 806,059 |
| Match 5 | £5,000 | 1 in 620,046 | 1 in 62,004 |
| Match 4 + Thunderball | £250 | 1 in 47,416 | 1 in 4,741 |
| Match 4 | £100 | 1 in 3,648 | 1 in 364 |
| Match 3 + Thunderball | £20 | 1 in 1,347 | 1 in 143.7 |
| Match 3 | £10 | 1 in 111 | 1 in 11.1 |
| Match 2 + Thunderball | £10 | 1 in 135 | 1 in 13.5 |
| Match 1 + Thunderball | £5 | 1 in 35 | 1 in 3.5 |
| Match Thunderball | £3 | 1 in 29 | 1 in 2.9 |
*Thunderball prizes are fixed. However, in the unlikely event that the value of the prizes won adds up to more than four times the value of ticket sales, winnings may be adjusted.
Thunderball Winners
The beauty of Thunderball is that prizes are guaranteed, so players know that their syndicate will land £500,000 if they match all five main numbers plus the Thunderball regardless of whether anyone else wins as well. The Knowles family played as a syndicate in May 2016 and pocketed the top prize, with the father later declaring that he had dreamt it would happen. Visit the Syndicate Winners page for more stories of success.