NEWS Lotto company Camelot has turned to technology to encourage more Brits to gamble.
People who fancy their 14-million-to-one change of winning the Lotto jackpot will pay off can now play through their mobiles. Would-be winners can text their choice of numbers to a short code for any of the regular draws - Lotto, EuroMillions and Daily Play.
The cost of the ticket will be the standard £1 plus 20p for the text. To be able to buy in the first place, users of the service will have to go online or call Camelot and set up an account beforehand - with Camelot saying any underage gamblers will be filtered out at that point as they'll have to register a card.
For anyone who does beat the odds and win a prize, a text will appear on the player's phone telling them they've won - but to find out if the winnings are to buy a house or more like enough to buy a round of drinks, Lotto players will have to check their online account.
Technology has already helped the Lotto turn around after six years of falling sales. Earlier this year, Camelot announced a tie-up with Sky where consumers could buy their tickets via their Sky Digital TV. The digital TV ticket sales have attracted over half a million players.
Nevertheless, the mobile lottery scheme has been costly and a long time coming. Chairman Michael Grade first mooted the plan in 2002, when he said £45m had been put aside to develop lottery services to work on 3G technology.
