Retired artist Ray Spiller, 70, is so convinced he will win the National Lottery that he has a few bottles of champagne waiting to celebrate.
Since he started 30 years ago, he has always enjoyed participating, but in December, Ray decided to see if people would join a lottery syndicate to buy tickets together and increase their chances of winning.
It was expected that few would come forward, but the number has grown to more than 70 people in just a few months.
Ray’s union groups are so popular that he has a waiting list of applicants, and when he reaches nine people, he creates a new one.
Would-be millionaires know the odds are stacked against them, with the jackpot at 45 million to one for each ticket. So to get more shares for their money, some play the game through a syndicate. The premise is simple: pay a bet each month to enter the lottery as a group.
The team has a better chance of matching the winning numbers. For example, a group of ten people who pay a £2 stake each for each draw have ten tickets in play to match the winning numbers, rather than just one each.
Retired artist Ray Spiller, 70, is so convinced he will win the National Lottery that he has bottles of champagne stashed away for when he does.
The only difference is that syndicate members will have to split the prize money among themselves if they win.
The dynamic was even the focus of a BBC television programme, The Syndicate, in which supermarket workers win the lottery together.
Ray, who lives in Broomfield, Essex, is involved in each of the eight unions.
“The first time we were involved in syndicates we won six or seven £30 lots. Once you get that, you get excited,” he says.
“The big prize is coming soon, no doubt about it. I tell all the members it’s going to happen.” So far, no group has won more than £140 on one line (matching four numbers).
As the country began to emerge from the fog of Covid lockdowns, Ray and his wife, Jan, 69, began organising coach trips for the community to visit London theatres, seaside towns and stately homes.
What they thought might have been a few trips a year has morphed into a full-time business, and Ray and Jan are working harder than ever, despite stepping back from their club and dinner entertainment roles at the start of the pandemic.
The couple keep bus travel enthusiasts informed through the Broomfield Bus Travel newsletter, which is sent to 3,600 people each month. In December last year, Ray proposed to the newsletter subscribers the idea of forming a lottery syndicate.
There are now a total of 72 people in eight unions, and Ray is the tenth person in each.
Ray Spiller and his wife Jan, 69, began organising coach trips for their Essex community to visit London theatres, seaside towns and stately homes, and this is where members of Ray’s lottery syndicates first met.
He buys ten lottery lines per syndicate for each draw (Wednesday and Saturday) for four weeks. The result is £16 per syndicate member, but it can be less if the syndicate has had a lucky month, as Ray deducts the winnings from the cost of the next round of lines. He spends around 14 to 16 hours each month on administration.
When Ray goes online, he chooses the Lucky Dip random generator option instead of choosing sequences.
He then prepares a document with the numbers of each union for the four weeks and sends it to the group before the first draw for complete transparency.
Ray and Jan check to see if any of the numbers match after every draw, even when they arrive home late after a bus trip to the capital.
Jan says: “He just sits there glued to the computer. I think: ‘Here we go again.’” The pair each go through half the lines.
“The lottery sends me an email to tell me I’ve won. So even if I haven’t checked, I would know,” Ray says.
“But we check it on the day of the draw for the thrill of it.” Syndicates often match two numbers on dozens of lines (allowing them to enter the Lucky Dip lottery draw for free). They have also won £30 some 66 times.
“We just need a few more zeros!” adds Jan.
One of Ray’s syndicates had a bigger win two weeks ago when they matched four numbers and received a substantial prize of £140.
One syndicate had a bigger win two weeks ago when it matched four numbers and received a prize of £140.
“Sweat started pouring down my neck and I started thinking, ‘This is it!'” Ray says. “I get nervous when the first three numbers match up.”
The National Lottery website recommends syndicates sign an agreement for the “peace of mind” of all members. A document also helps ensure winnings are tax-exempt, it says. It can prove to the taxman that payments to syndicate members are not gifts.
Ray’s agreement states his address and bank details, that players will be paid within four weeks and that in the event of victory the group will not do any publicity.
He currently pays £128 every four weeks for his stake in each of the eight syndicates – or £1,664 a year. But he shrugs off sceptics who say the chances of winning are too small.
“They can do whatever they want,” he says. “Some people collect stamps and things like that, I don’t despise it. I like the lottery.”
‘I have to do it in every union in case the union I’m not in wins!’
The married couple is happy with where they live now, so they plan to spend their future earnings on trips for union members.
Even if one union wins big, Ray has pledged to continue to stand with the other unions to be fair.
‘If the big win comes I have already told the unions that we will hire the County Hotel for the afternoon and I will hand out the cheques. We will have a cream tea for everyone.
‘Most people want to buy a big seven-bedroom house with a pool, but we’re quite happy living here.
“It’s nonsense. I’ve always wanted a grandfather clock. And Jan is turning 70 next year, so I’d get him something special,” Ray says.
Jan adds: “He knows he’ll take me to the jewellers to buy me an emerald when we win.”
The couple also have made donations to charities a priority: “We’re on our way to getting the air ambulance,” Jan explains. “If we win a lot, we’ll go and give them a check.”
And, as Ray says, “The odds are in favor of the Lottery, of course, but one day…”
Are you a member of a lottery syndicate? Email L.evans@dailymail.co.uk
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