Saturday’s triple lottery rollover jackpot of £18,992,109 was won in its entirety by one ticket purchased at the last minute by Steve and Ida Smith. The Smiths, who live in Hemel Hempstead, play the lottery on a regular basis, but the ticket that made them multi-millionaires was an additional one that Steve almost didn’t buy.

Spending money isn’t normally considered a problem for lottery winners, but it can be if they can’t think of anything to spend it on. Many winners of lottery jackpots enjoy the short-term thrill of buying a new home and a car or two, and maybe even giving up work, but then they hit a brick wall when it comes to deciding what to do with the rest – especially if they have won several million rather than “just” one or two. For those who are in this challenging predicament – and to inspire those who hope to be jackpot winners in the future – here are a few suggestions on how to spend some cash in what we consider to be quite original ways...

A lottery ticket worth £700,000 was lost for two hours, and the owner didn’t even realise it! In fact drama teacher Siobhan O’Brien from Fermanagh in Northern Ireland didn’t know that the ticket in her purse was a winning one for two weeks after the draw had taken place on Wednesday 9 January. The £2.5 million jackpot for that game had been won by four tickets, and hers was one of them, making it worth £649,657.

Saturday’s triple rollover draw was won by one lucky player, and in doing so they scooped a whopping £18,992,109. Details of the winner aren’t yet known, but if they are aware of their success at this point then we can assume they are beside themselves with excitement. Sixteen players came close to the jackpot by matching five numbers and the bonus ball, and won £143,051 each.

The odds of any given set of numbers being drawn in a fair and legal lottery game (such as Lotto or EuroMillions) are identical, but there are millions of players who base their entries on pseudo-mathematical ideas. None of the ideas that follow hold any water when examined from a purely scientific or statistical point of view, but knowing about them will certainly enable you to hold your own if they ever crop up in conversation over dinner…

Winning a lottery jackpot must be a wonderful experience, but winning over the Christmas and New Year means that the lucky person starts a new year with a hefty bank balance instead of debt.