The Irish Lottery was launched in the Republic of Ireland in March, 1987, and is famous for giving lottery players the best chance of winning a jackpot than any other main lottery draw. The jackpot is guaranteed to be worth at least $2 million, and the odds of winning it outright are 1 in 8,145,060. .
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How to play the Irish National Lotto
The Irish Lottery is a 6 from 45 game, and there are two draws each week on Wednesday and Saturday. Players must select six main numbers from the range 1 to 45 and match all of these to win the jackpot or share thereof. If you don’t want to select your own numbers you can take advantage of a “Quick Pick” option and have your numbers generated at random.
In addition to the six main numbers, one Bonus Ball number is also drawn. This has no relevance to winning the jackpot, but it does enable players to win several lesser prizes. There are seven prize levels in all, and these are detailed in the table below:
Numbers Matched |
Odds of Winning |
6 main numbers |
1 in 8,145,060 |
5 main numbers + Bonus |
1 in 1,357,510 |
5 main numbers |
1 in 35,724 |
4 main numbers + Bonus |
1 in 14,290 |
4 main numbers |
1 in 772 |
3 main numbers + Bonus |
1 in 579 |
3 main numbers |
1 in 48 |
If the jackpot is not won outright then it is rolled over and added to the jackpot fund for the next Irish Lottery draw.
Claiming Prizes
Irish Lottery players have just 90 days from the date of the draw to claim their prize, so it is very important to claim any prize swiftly. If a player misses the 90 day deadline, any prize won is forfeited. As with other lottery games, buying Irish Lottery tickets online is a good way of ensuring that you don’t accidentally forget to claim a prize and miss out as a result.
Big Irish Lotto Winners
The biggest Irish Lottery win so far was worth €18.9 million. This was won by a syndicate of sixteen in June, 2008. Prior to that, the biggest win had been worth €16.1 million – a prize that was won in July, 2007.