Milky Ways

How to play Milky Ways

Fred Done, the 83-year-old founder of Betfred and Britain’s highest-paying taxpayer this year, has issued a stark warning about the impact of further tax increases on the gambling industry. 

In an interview with the Financial Times over the weekend, Done cautioned that additional tax hikes could result in widespread betting shop closures, harm related sectors such as horse racing and accelerate the decline of the high street.

Betfred currently operates approximately 1,094 retail shops across the UK. Done highlighted the concrete risks of Machine Gaming Duty – taxes on gambling machines – doubling from 20% to 40%, a move reportedly under consideration by Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Autumn Budget.

How to play Milky Ways

“We are committed to minimising the impact on our people and are exploring all avenues to reduce the number of redundancies,” the spokesperson said. “As a first step, we are planning a programme of voluntary redundancies.

“Our colleagues are our priority. We understand the concerns many will have. Impacted staff have been informed and are being fully supported throughout this process.”

Bet365 noted the impact of the UK government’s near doubling of the remote gaming duty, which increased from 21% to 40% on 1 April this year.

How to play Milky Ways

With no jackpot win materializing, the game’s top prize has continued to grow, reaching $332 million ahead of the Wednesday drawing. A hypothetical winner would be able to either claim the annuity option for the full sum or the one-time lump sum option of $141.7 million.

The $1 million win in the UK comes shortly after a lucky player in New York won a similar prize after matching the five white numbers for the Saturday, September 19, drawing. The same drawing also saw 30 players win tier-three prizes. Of these, 23 won $50,000 each, while the remaining 7 won $100,000 each thanks to Power Play.

A week before that, Powerball awarded not one, but two Match 5 prizes. One of these incredible payouts was a $1 million win in Georgia, while the other one was a $2 million windfall in Ohio.