Lottery by the Gambling Commission (formerly the National Lottery Commission), and established in 1994. It is operated by the Camelot Group, which was first granted the franchise in 1994. Camelot's current franchise agreement runs through 2019. 28% of National Lottery revenue, along with all unclaimed prizes, are distributed as grants to charitable causes. 12% of the revenue from the National Lottery is expected to go to the government, 5% goes to lottery retailers, 5% is retained by Camelot Group for operating costs, and 50% remains for the total prize fund of which 5% is diverted to a Super Draw fund, leaving
National Lottery (Ireland) jackpots, partly so that people living near the border with Northern Ireland would not abandon Lotto when the 6/49 British National Lottery began operations on 14 November 1994. At the same time, the National Lottery introduced computer-generated "quick picks" as an alternative to marking numbers on paper playslips. Some retailers now only offer the quick-pick option. For draws beginning on 26 September 1998, the National Lottery increased the cost of a line of Lotto from £0.50 to £0.75. At this time it also doubled the game's starting jackpot to £1 million and increased most of the game's smaller prizes by