Irish Lotto

1. Home
2. Irish Lotto

The Irish Lotto is one of Ireland’s main lottery games and is drawn on Wednesday and Saturday. Players must match six main numbers from 47 to win the jackpot, which starts at €2 million. There are an additional seven prize tiers in which players can win prizes ranging from a €3 Daily Million with Plus entry (2 lines) for matching two main numbers and the Bonus Ball, up to an average €100,000 for matching five main numbers and the Bonus Ball.

The supplementary games - Lotto Plus 1, Lotto Plus 2 and Lotto Plus Raffle - can be played for an extra €1 per line and offer top prizes of €1 million, €250,000 and €500 respectively.

This Irish Lotto data includes all draws up to and including Saturday 27^th May 2023. Chronology is used to distinguish ties.

Prize Draw Information

Last Jackpot

The last jackpot drawn on Saturday 27th May 2023 for Irish Lotto was €9.8 Million The next estimated Irish Lotto jackpot is €10 Million which will be drawn on Wednesday 31st May 2023 .

Irish Lotto Numbers (Last 10 Draws)

Irish Lotto Odds & Prize Draw Breakdown

Irish Lotto Draw Details

Irish Lotto History

The Irish Lotto was launched in April 1988 with a weekly draw on a Saturday; its original format required players to match six numbers from a choice of 36, with a minimum jackpot of IR£250,000. The lottery continued to be drawn weekly until May 1990 when the Wednesday draw was introduced.

In August 1992 the number of balls increased to 39, a Bonus Ball was added into the game and the starting jackpot increased to IR£500,000. The Irish Lotto matrix was changed again in September 1994 when the ball pool increased to 42. In addition, Quick Picks were introduced, allowing the lottery terminal to choose a random selection of numbers for a player’s tickets.

Lotto Plus was first played in October 2000, allowing players’ numbers a second chance to win prizes in an additional draw for a small fee.

With the introduction of the Euro in January 2002, the price of a ticket became €0.95 per line, and the starting jackpot was set at €1.2 million. A further additional draw, Lotto Plus 2, was introduced at the same time. Prices were adjusted again in September 2002 to €1 per line, raising the base jackpot to €1.35 million.

In November 2006, the game matrix was altered once more, with players having to match six numbers from 1 to 45, and the starting jackpot rose to a guaranteed €2 million. The prize for matching five main numbers and the Bonus Ball was boosted from €12,000 to €25,000, and a €5 award for matching three numbers was introduced. The price of an Irish Lotto line increased from €1 to €1.50 per line as a result of the changes.

September 2015 saw the Irish Lotto matrix change again, with ticket holders now having to match six main numbers from a choice of 47. In addition, the prize for matching five main numbers and the Bonus Ball rose to €100,000 on average, the reward for matching three main balls increased to approximately €9 and players could win a €3 scratchcard for matching two main numbers and the Bonus Ball. The Lotto Plus 1 jackpot increased from €350,000 to €500,000 and a new Lotto Plus Raffle was introduced, offering a number of €300 prizes in every draw. Finally, the price of playing Irish Lotto rose from €1.50 per line to €2.

Further Irish Lotto changes were introduced in August 2018, with the aim of generating more winners and crowning more millionaires. The odds of winning across both Lotto and Lotto Plus improved from 1 in 17 to 1 in 10, and the prize for matching two main numbers and the Bonus Ball in the main Lotto draw changed from a €3 scratchcard to a €3 Daily Million with Plus entry (two lines). These updates resulted in the cost of playing Lotto and Lotto Plus together increasing from €5 to €6. There were also alterations made to the Lotto Plus One and Two draws, with changes to the price of entry, prize tiers and jackpot amounts. The overall changes were expected to create an average of 16 more millionaires across Lotto and Lotto Plus each year.

In January 2022, ‘Will Be Won’ draws were introduced after the jackpot stayed at its €19.06 million cap for more than three months. Under the new rule, the jackpot can only stay at its cap for up to five draws before it must be won, with the money rolling down to the next tier if required.

Page Last Updated: Saturday, 27^th May 2023 8:36 pm