Retired entertainer Ray Spiller, 70, is so convinced he will win the National Lottery that he has a few bottles of champagne waiting to celebrate.
He has always enjoyed entering since it started 30 years ago. But in December, Ray decided to see if people wanted to join a Lottery syndicate to buy tickets together and increase their chance of winning.
He expected a few to come forward – but numbers have now grown to more than 70 people in just a few months.
Ray’s syndicate groups are so popular he has a waiting list of hopefuls – and when it creeps up to nine people, he creates a new one.
Would-be millionaires know the odds are stacked against them, the jackpot being 45 million to one for each ticket. So to get more entries for their money, some enter the game via a syndicate. The premise is simple: pay a stake each month to enter the Lottery as a group.
The team get more chances to match the winning numbers. For example, a group of ten paying a £2 stake each for every draw has ten tickets between them in the running to match the winning numbers, instead of just one each.
Retired entertainer Ray Spiller, 70, is so convinced he will win the National Lottery that he has bottles of champagne saved for when he does
The only difference is that syndicate members will need to split the prize money among themselves if they win.
The dynamic was even the focus of a BBC TV show – The Syndicate – where workers at a supermarket jointly win the Lottery.
Ray, who lives in Broomfield, Essex, takes part in every one of the eight syndicates.
‘The very first time we did the syndicates we won six or seven lots of £30. Once you get that, you’ve got the buzz,’ he says.
‘The big win is definitely coming up soon. I tell all the members – it’s going to happen.’ No syndicate has won more than £140 in a line (matching four numbers) so far.
When the country started to come out of the haze of Covid lockdowns, Ray and his wife, Jan, 69, started to arrange coach trips for the community to visit theatres in London, seaside towns and stately homes.
What they thought might have been a few trips a year has transformed into a full-time business – and Ray and Jan are working harder than ever, despite retiring from their entertaining roles at clubs and dinners at the onset of the pandemic.
The couple keep avid coach-trippers up to date via the Broomfield Coach Trips newsletter. It’s sent to 3,600 people every month – and in December last year Ray floated the idea of forming a Lottery syndicate to the newsletter subscribers.
There’s now a total of 72 people in eight syndicates, with Ray making up the tenth person in each one.
Ray Spiller and his wife Jan, 69, started to arrange coach trips for their Essex community to visit theatres in London, seaside towns and stately homes, and this is where members of Ray’s Lottery syndicates were first found
He buys ten Lotto lines per syndicate for every draw – Wednesday and Saturday – for four weeks. It works out at £16 a syndicate member, but it can be less if the syndicate had a lucky month as Ray takes the winnings off the cost for the next round of lines. He spends around 14 to 16 hours every month on the administration.
As Ray enters online he chooses the Lucky Dip random generator option instead of picking the sequences.
He then compiles a document with the numbers for each syndicate for the four weeks and sends it to the group before the first draw for full transparency.
Ray and Jan check if any of the numbers match after every draw, even if they arrive home late after a coach trip to the capital.
Jan says: ‘He sits there glued to the computer. I think “here we go again”.’ The pair check half of the lines each.
‘The Lottery sends me an email to say that I’d won. So even if I didn’t check it, I’d know,’ Ray says.
‘But we check it on the day of the draw nonetheless because of the excitement.’ The syndicates typically match two numbers on dozens of lines (this affords them a free entry into the Lotto Lucky Dip). They have also won £30 some 66 times.
‘We just need a few more noughts on there!’ Jan adds.
One of Ray’s syndicates had a bigger win two weeks ago when they matched four numbers and received a healthy £140 prize
One of the syndicates had a bigger win two weeks ago when they matched four numbers and received a £140 prize.
‘The sweat started going down my neck and I started to think “this is it!”,’ Ray says. ‘I get nervous when the first three numbers match.’
The National Lottery website advises syndicates to put an agreement in place for ‘peace of mind’ for all members. A document also helps ensure winnings are tax-free, it states. It can prove to the taxman that payments to syndicate members are not gifts.
Ray’s agreement lays out his address and banking details, that players will get paid out within four weeks and that in the event of a win, the group won’t do any publicity.
He currently pays £128 every four weeks for his stake in each of the eight syndicates. That’s £1,664 a year. But he doesn’t take notice of sceptics who say the odds of winning are too small.
‘They can do what they want to do,’ he says. ‘Some people collect stamps and the like, I’m not knocking it. I enjoy the Lottery.
‘I have to do each syndicate in case it’s the syndicate that I’m not in that wins!’
The married couple are happy with where they live now, so plan to spend their future winnings on trips out for the syndicate members
Even if one syndicate wins big, Ray has pledged to continue the other syndicates out of fairness.
‘If the real big win comes in, I’ve already said to the syndicates that we’ll hire the County Hotel for the afternoon and I’ll hand out the cheques. We’ll do a cream tea for everyone.
‘Most people want to buy a big seven-bed house with a swimming pool, but we’re quite content living here.
‘It’s silly things. I’ve always wanted a grandfather clock. And Jan will be 70 next year so I’d buy her something special,’ Ray says.
Jan adds: ‘He knows he’s taking me to the jewellers for an emerald when we win.’
Donating to charity is also high on the couple’s list: ‘We’re on the flight path for the air ambulance,’ Jan explains. ‘If we get this big win we will go around there and give them a cheque.’
And, as Ray says: ‘The odds are in the Lottery’s favour, of course, but one day…’
Are you a member of a Lottery syndicate? Email [email protected]
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