The National Lottery has started selling tickets for Powerball in the UK, with the first draw set for Thursday 23 July 2026 and an estimated £300 million jackpot. Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said tickets are available online via The National Lottery app and in retailers nationwide, priced at £4 per line.

Allwyn said the first UK Powerball ticket was sold at Sewell On The Go in Pocklington, York shortly after 5am, and the first online ticket was purchased via The National Lottery App by a player in Brighton at 5.54am. Players can buy tickets for the first draw until 11.55pm on Wednesday 22 July, with the draw taking place at around 4am UK time.

Powerball is launching in the UK in partnership with the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), the non-profit association owned and operated by its member lotteries. Allwyn said 48 US-based lotteries currently participate in Powerball, and UK draws will take place three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) from the Powerball studio in Florida.

Under the UK version, players choose five main numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball number from 1 to 26 (or opt for a Lucky Dip). Allwyn said UK winners of the shared jackpot are paid over 30 years. The UK game also adds a ‘Match 2 main numbers’ prize tier exclusive to UK players, with a fixed £8 prize, while the ‘Match 5 main numbers’ tier offers a fixed £1 million.

Allwyn cited new research of 2,000 UK adults suggesting large jackpots could influence consumer intentions around spending and giving. Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at Allwyn, said: “I’ve seen first-hand how a big win can transform lives. But when people start imagining jackpots in the hundreds of millions of pounds, the conversation changes.

“People move beyond buying a bigger house or taking a dream holiday and start thinking about making a difference, whether that’s supporting loved ones, helping their local community, backing a cause they care about or turning a lifelong dream into reality.

“Powerball Money brings a whole new level of possibility to UK players. It’s a chance to win the biggest jackpot ever offered through The National Lottery and to dream bigger than ever before.”

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PokerStars Casino has added ELK Studios’ Quackers as the sixth release in its 2026 The Slotlist series, positioning the title as the featured slot on the operator’s Casino tab.

Quackers is a 6 column, 6 row slot with a stated maximum win of up to 10,000x the player’s bet. ELK Studios said the game includes a global multiplier, wilds, symbol multipliers, a bonus, and a super bonus.

According to the companies, players can access the Coin Game by collecting 20 coins, with additional rewards delivered through coins, chests and multipliers. Three Bonus symbols trigger an 8×8 Bonus Game, while landing a Super Bonus symbol activates the Super Bonus, which starts with all ducks on the grid. The game also includes ELK’s X-iter feature, offering five game modes ranging from a 2.5x bet option “with more than three times the chance to trigger the bonus” to a 500x bet Super Bonus.

“We’re delighted to see Quackers featured in PokerStars Casino’s The Slotlist this month,” said Daniel Rydh, Senior Product Owner at ELK Studios. “Our goal with Quackers was to create a game that’s easy to pick up but continues to surprise players over time. The game combines personality with rewarding features and distinctive graphics, animations, and sound that we believe players will enjoy discovering.”

“Every title in The Slotlist is carefully chosen to give players something memorable, from innovative features and striking visuals, to immersive gameplay,” said Ed Fogarty, Associate Director of PokerStars Casino Commercial. “Quackers embodies exactly that. From its distinctive duck characters to its variety of features, rewarding bonus mechanics, and impressive win potential, it’s a fantastic addition to this month’s The Slotlist, and we’re delighted to bring it to our players.”

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For years, most slot games have followed the same familiar pattern: players spin, wait for Free Spins to begin, and then let the bonus do the rest. Much of the excitement comes from not knowing what will happen next. That formula still works, but player expectations are starting to change.

Today, many players want more than random outcomes; they enjoy feeling involved in what happens on the screen. Even a single decision can make a session feel more personal and memorable.

DELULU Gaming explored this idea in Oh My Gods, one of the studio’s first releases.

The game takes players inside a psychiatric hospital, where two patients are convinced they are Zeus and Thor. One believes he rules the skies with lightning, while the other is ready to smash anything standing in his way. The setting is unusual, funny, and unpredictable, but the real difference comes from what happens before the bonus even begins. Instead of simply waiting for Free Spins, players choose which god they want to follow. That single decision changes the entire feature.

Giving Players a Reason to Return

Choosing Zeus unlocks a bonus built around anticipation. Thunder destroys low-paying symbols before Hot Zones appear on the reels with hidden multipliers. Players watch the setup develop before the values are revealed, creating tension with every spin.

Thor offers a completely different experience. His Free Spins focus on action instead of suspense. Every appearance of Thor leads to a battle against the Nurse, where the result decides how much the final winnings will be multiplied. The pace is faster, more direct, and every fight feels like another chance to turn the bonus around.

Although both paths belong to the same game, they offer very different experiences. Many players finish one bonus curious about the path they didn’t choose, which naturally encourages them to return. And even when the Free Spins end, the story isn’t over.

The idea proved effective beyond the game itself. During a 30-day affiliate campaign across SEO, PPC, and TikTok, Oh My Gods generated 1,980 registrations and 648 first-time depositors. Gameplay creatives featuring the Zeus vs Thor choice became the top-performing creative across every traffic source.

Designing Retention from the First Sketch

Instead of finishing with the final spin, Zeus and Thor meet in one last confrontation called the Gods’ Clash. If the player’s chosen god wins the battle, the total bonus win is tripled. Every choice made earlier suddenly feels even more important because the ending has not been written until the very last moment.

DELULU believes players should be active participants throughout the session. Every mechanic is designed to give them something to react to, think about, or choose, while keeping the gameplay easy to understand from the very first spin. The idea isn’t to make the game more complicated, but to give players more ways to stay engaged.

At DELULU Gaming, mechanics and game design evolve together from the very first concept. Every feature, visual element, and gameplay decision supports the same player experience, making retention a natural outcome of the design. In Oh My Gods, this balance keeps the game easy to understand, visually strong, and interesting to watch and play. The result is a slot with a concept that’s immediately understood and well-suited for operator lobbies, promotional campaigns, and live streams.

About DELULU

DELULU is a new-generation iGaming game studio focused on delivering high-quality, distinctive gaming experiences. The game studio creates slots and instant-win games with bold visuals, tight mechanics, and math engineered for emotional impact. DELULU knows how to win long-term operator trust through titles that players recognize, streamers love to showcase, and the market can’t ignore.

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