The UK government has opened a consultation on outlawing third-party operators from offering betting on the National Lottery’s Powerball draw game.
As present, UK operators can offer markets on the outcome of Powerball, a US-based lottery draw game Allwyn rolled out in July 2026 as part of its plan “to grow good causes for communities across the UK”.
The government says these bets are “contrary to the spirt and intention” of Section 95 of the Gambling Act 2005.
Section 95 prevents “a holder of a betting licence from offering a bet on the outcome of a lottery which forms part of the National Lottery” and is in place for other lottery draw-based games including Thunderball and EuroMillions.
As it stands, players are placing a bet on the outcome of the draw as opposed to purchasing a ticket to participate in the Powerball, with the government looking to establish the distinction between betting and lottery.
Highlighting that without “intervention” there is risk of confusion among customers, the government is seeking to ban betting markets on draws.
The consultation will run for six weeks, closing on 4 November.
The government said is looking to hear from a “wide range of views from both organisations and individuals” from people over the age of 18.
There will be 22 questions in the consultation split into five sections: demographic, general, third-party betting on Powerball, business impacts and closing views.
Examples of questions include “third party betting on Powerball should be prohibited in the UK?” and “if third party betting on Powerball were prohibited, I would use that money to play Powerball through the National Lottery instead?”
The data will be received and held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The consultation announcement added that players betting on the outcome, be it intentionally or unintentionally, reduces National Lottery sales and the returns to good causes, which raises approximately £1.8bn per year to support the arts, heritage, sport and communities sectors.
A summary read: “The government considers that a prohibition on betting on Powerball will maintain the clear distinction that Section 95 seeks to achieve between the National Lottery and gambling products and give the same protection to the funds for good causes raised by the National Lottery as is the case for UK draws, without significantly impacting on business.”
Other options instead of a consultation were considered, such as the Gambling Commission issuing advice to operators to make sure their products clarified customers were betting on the outcome and not the actual Powerball.
However, this approach was adopted ahead of the EuroMillions prohibition and was found to be “limited in success”.
Mandating that operators donate to good causes and banning all bets on lotteries were also explored but it was “deemed to be less effective in meeting our objectives”.
Powerball costs £4 per line when played through the National Lottery, a significantly higher entry cost than other major UK games like EuroMillions (£2.50) or Lotto (£2).
UK players choose five main numbers from one to 69 and and a Powerball from one to 26. UK entries feed into the same rolling jackpot as the US game, yet UK jackpot winners must receive their prizes as a 30-year annuity rather than a lump-sum cash option.
Since its inception in 1994, the National Lottery has generated £53bn for over 680,000 good cause projects.
Allwyn was awarded the fourth National Lottery licence in 2022 and replaced Camelot two years later.
It says Powerball will raise an additional £1bn for good causes in the next five years in the UK.
The post UK government weighs up ban on third-party betting on Powerball first appeared on EGR Intel.
Consultation on Allwyn’s US-based lottery draw game comes as government says betting goes against “spirit and intention” of Section 95 of Gambling Act 2005
The post UK government weighs up ban on third-party betting on Powerball first appeared on EGR Intel.