Lotto punters were furious after “poor” payouts on Saturday’s draw when no-one scooped the jackpot.
Five players matched five numbers and the bonus ball, winning £16,123.
And a whopping 170 punters matched five numbers – pocketing just £499 each.
Sandra Leonard, from Exeter, Devon, said: “I think this is very poor. To win just £500 is rubbish.
“This seems to be a trend with the lottery now.”
Joyce Fell, who lives near Exeter, said: “I cannot be bothered with the lottery anymore.
“You play it to try and win a life changing amount of money.
“If I had five numbers I would expect to win money in the thousands not the hundreds.
“With the extra numbers and continuous rollover jackpots, I think the Lotto people have shot themselves in the foot. No wonder their money has gone down.”
(Photo: PA)
Regular player Sid Abbot added: “I think Camelot needs to have a re-think about all this and make it more enjoyable for players because it ain’t much fun at the moment.”
A Camelot spokesman said: “We understand why people are disappointed but it is simply because more people matched five numbers.”
He explained that 47.5% of ticket sale cash is allocated to the prizes but more than 80% of that is for the jackpot and only 2% is allocated to players who match five balls.
The spokesman said the more people that match the prizes, the less money will be won as it has to be split equally between the winners.
In the Lotto draw last Wednesday no-one won the top prize but 78 people each won £662 for matching five balls.
On June 10, 65 punters won £1,308; on June 7 47 players won £1,072 and on June 3rd 56 won £1,475, all for matching five balls.
(Photo: E+)
The Camelot spokesman said: “170 winners is considerably more so it has to be split equally among the winners.”
Neil James said: “I think most people would prefer the lower prizes to be bigger.
“Why don’t they reduce the amount put into the jackpot fund and spread it more evenly on the other prize tiers?
“I’m sure the jackpot would still be a lot of money even it was reduced.
“And bearing in mind the number of rollovers now, it is still going to be a heck of a lot of cash.”
Lottery bosses changed the format in October 2015, increasing the number of balls from 49 to 59. This caused controversy because scooping the jackpot suddenly became three times less likely.