Irish Lotto Plus Draws
Lotto Plus draws are held every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday alongside the main Lotto draw and give you extra chances to win big prizes.
All you need to do to take part is mark one box when you play Lotto, and you will be entered into two more games. Learn more about Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 on this page.
How the Plus Draws Work
To play, select the Plus option when you purchase your Lotto ticket. The numbers you picked for Lotto will then be entered into the Plus draws also taking place that night. Each draw sees six numbers from 1 to 45 selected at random.
The minimum play for Lotto Plus is two lines at a total cost of €2. However, you cannot enter Lotto Plus without playing Lotto. You would therefore have to pay €6 altogether - giving you two entries into Lotto, Plus 1 and Plus 2.
It is not possible to play just one of the Lotto Plus games – you take part in both of them if you add the option to your ticket.
Keep these points in mind when you take part:
- You do not select numbers specifically for Lotto Plus
- Entry is optional
- The Lotto Plus Raffle is no longer part of the game
Lotto Plus Prizes
All Lotto Plus prizes are fixed amounts, meaning you are guaranteed to win the advertised prize amounts. Values will only be adjusted down when the combined prizes won on Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 are worth more than €5 million – something that only happens in exceptional circumstances.
Two different sets of numbers are drawn for both Lotto Plus draws, so you have three chances of winning with every line you purchase. It is also possible to win prizes in all three draws from the same set of Lotto numbers if some of the same balls are drawn.
The overall odds of winning a prize when you combine Lotto and Lotto Plus are 1 in 8.5.
Both games now have an identical prize structure. The table below shows all the different prize tiers and the odds of winning:
| Numbers Matched | Prize | Odds of Winning |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Main numbers | €1,000,000 | 1 in 8,145,060 |
| 5 Main numbers Plus the Bonus ball |
€1,000 | 1 in 1,357,510 |
| 5 Main numbers | €100 | 1 in 35,724 |
| 4 Main numbers Plus the Bonus ball |
€25 | 1 in 14,290 |
| 4 Main numbers | €10 | 1 in 772 |
| 3 Main numbers Plus the Bonus ball |
€6 | 1 in 579 |
| 3 Main numbers | €2 | 1 in 48 |
| 2 Main numbers Plus the Bonus ball |
€3 | 1 in 64 |
History of the Plus Draws
When Lotto Plus started in 2000, there was only one additional draw and the jackpot was a fixed IR£250,000. Ireland adopted the Euro in 2002 and the Plus 1 jackpot was set at €300,000 later that year. At the same time, Lotto Plus 2 was also introduced with a top prize of €200,000.
The Lotto Plus Raffle was introduced in 2015 as part of several changes to Lotto and Lotto Plus, which included prize increases.
The raffle gave you the opportunity to win €500 by matching a random four-digit number between 0000 and 9999. As there were a limited number of combinations, many players shared the same number on their ticket and there were multiple winners every time.
Special raffle draws took place from time to time, when an extra €1 million was added to the prize fund to be shared between all the winners.
The Lotto Plus Raffle was retired in September 2026, at the same time as the Lotto Plus 2 jackpot was increased to €1 million, a new Monday draw was introduced and the ball pool was reduced back down from 47 to 45.
