Irish Lotto
What is the Irish Lotto?
The Irish National Lottery, or Irish lotto, is the state lottery of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland passed the National Lottery Act in 1986 in order to encourage the stimulation of funds for good causes and maintenance of the country’s wellbeing. It operates under three families of lottery games such as Lotto, EuroMillions, and Daily Million. The games is available online as well as through a network of 3,700 retailers nationwide.
How did it originate?
The very first Irish lotto draw took place in March 1988. On the 23rd of March 1986, scratch cards were the first to be launched but because of its popularity, more Lotto games were included such as Monday Millions, All or Nothing Draws, TV game shows, bingo, millionaire raffles, and participation in the famous EuroMillions lottery game. The first actual draw took place in 1988 on April 16th. The draws used to take place on Saturdays, but in 1990 a midweek draw was introduced and landed on Wednesday evenings. To this day this tradition has continued with draws happening every Saturday and Wednesday.
How big is it today?
By the end of the year 2013, the Irish Lotto generated the staggering sum of over €2 billion in sales. It paid out €6.7 billion in prizes and raised an incredible €4.4 billion for good causes and investments in bettering the country. In 2011, a survey showed that 2.2 million Irish people enjoyed playing the Irish lotto. That’s 64% of the population! A further 46% reported that they enter the draws weekly.
Here’s an interesting fact: In 2013, due to the financial crisis ravaging Europe, the Irish state had a large budget deficit so the Irish government agreed to sell their National lottery license for 20 years to a private operator. That private operator was Premier Lotteries Ireland. This new owner took over the license recently in the year 2014. The Irish government receive €405 million in sales. Recently, they used that money to build a new Children’s State Hospital. Soo how the lottery can do a lot of good? Not only does it make players’ dreams come true, but it also gives dreams to those less fortunate or who need some extra help.
Who can play the Irish Lotto?
Thanks to online lottery ticket concierge sites, anyone can buy tickets for this draw. There is no requirement to be a resident of Ireland in order to play the Irish lotto. If you have access to the internet, then you can get your lotto tickets from anywhere in the world on lottery concierge sites. Players must of course be of the legal gambling age in their country. For most countries the legal age to buy lottery tickets is between the ages of 18-21.
When can I play the Irish Lotto?
Irish lotto draws take place twice a week at 19:57 Irish time. The draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday night and they can be viewed on RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster.
Irish Lotto Prize Structure
Match 6 main numbers – winning odds are 1 in 10,737,573 – estimated winnings will be €1.6 million (This prize amount will vary if the jackpot is bigger)
Match 5 main numbers and a bonus – winning odds are 1 in 1,789,596 – estimated winnings will be €82,000
Match 5 main numbers – winning odds are 1 in 44,740 – estimated winnings will be €1200
Match 4 main numbers and a bonus – winnings odds are 1 in 17,896 – estimated winnings will be €123
Match 4 main numbers – winning odds are 1 in 918 – estimated winnings are €40
Match 3 main numbers and a bonus – winning odds are 1 in 688 – estimated winnings are 1 in 54 – estimated winnings are €20
Match 3 main numbers – winnings odds are 1 in 54 – estimated winnings are €8
Match 2 numbers and a bonus – winnings odds are 1 in 72 – estimated winnings are
The Biggest Wins
The biggest Irish Lotto win of all time happened to a syndicate of 16 co-workers. They won a jackpot of over €18 million back in the year 2008. In this instance, the jackpot was shared equally amongst all members of the syndicate.
Distribution of Revenue
The National Lottery Act was passed in 1986 to generate funding for sport, recreation, health, welfare, the Arts, national heritage, and the Irish language. Since 1988, the Irish lottery has helped raise over €3.5 billion.
Two out of three Irish adults play the Irish Lotto which ensures that the legacy is carried onto next generations. During the long history of the Irish lotto, profits generated have also gone towards the National Lottery. About €260 million was raised and was distributed for good causes around the country. The Irish Lotto, is therefore a strong part of Irish hearts.
How to play the Irish Lotto
Players must choose six numbers from 1 to 47. If they manage to match all six numbers, they will win the jackpot which has a minimum starting point of €2 million. The jackpot can climb higher when rollovers occur. If a player matched five main numbers and the bonus ball, they can win an average of around €100,000.
Players can either pick their own lucky numbers or use a quick pick option which generates the lucky numbers for them. The legal age to play the lottery is 18. Should a player win a lottery prize, it must be claimed within 90 days from the date on which the winning ticket was bought. All winnings are paid out tax-free.
Keep an eye out for Irish Lotto scams
Many people are aware that lottery scams exist, but that doesn’t mean it stops scammers from finding new ways to intimidate and take advantage of unsuspecting victims. Lottery scams can come in many forms such as emails, letter, text messages, and even phone calls.
It seems that Irish lotto scams are the most popular due to the fact that the Irish lottery is one of the most popular draws outside of Ireland.
Postal lottery and email scams are the usual format. The victim gets a letter or email informing them that they have won a prize with the Irish lottery. The danger comes when the victim falls for the lie and tries to redeem their winnings. They are asked to pay a “service fee” to release the winnings.
If you fall for it, and you pay them, they will never stop bugging you to pay more for more bogus “costs”. They will keep making up excuses until you’ve sent thousands of Euros to them and you still haven’t seen a penny from your “winnings”. It is highly unfortunate that people are still falling for scams like this these days.
Around 70,000 people and counting have fallen victim to Irish lotto scams. Don’t be the next victim. If you don’t remember entering any lottery draws, then you cannot win. Pure and simple as that. Even if you have played a few lotteries online, no legitimate lottery or company would EVER contact you via letter or email that you have won a life-changing sum of money. If you have legitimately won, they will never ask for a single cent from you, ever!
The scam artists also act like they are the winners of the lottery and they want to share their winnings with you.
There is much advice out there on how best to protect yourself from Irish lottery scams, but the main thing is to have common sense. If you receive an email or letter telling you that you have won, then stop and ask yourself:
- “Have I played this lottery draw?”
- Would a genuine lottery be asking me to send thousands of pounds?”
- “Would a real email from the lottery have spelling mistakes?”
Most of them always contain spelling and grammatical errors. If you answer “NO” to all these rational questions, then the chances are, it’s a scam. Stay away and hit the delete key! If something seems too good to be true, it probably is!