Three Things You Didn’t Know About Irish Lotto
Last Updated: Thursday 29th July 2021, 14:43 pm
As Irish Lotto fans prepare themselves for another multimillion-Euro jackpot, it’s probably safe to say that there are one or two ticket holders who aren’t aware of all there is to know about the game they love. Read on to discover three things you might not have known about Irish Lotto.
1.) It’s a little known fact that the Irish Lotto has a jackpot cap that stands at €18.96 million, but this total is adjustable. This current prize pot cap was set on the 28th of June 2008 when a syndicate of 16 workers at a quarry and concrete plant in Bennekerry, Carlow, successfully matched all six numbers to claim the massive prize.
At present, a total of 46.16 percent of the Prize Fund for the next drawing is added to the Lotto Jackpot Prize Pool, but what happens when the prize pot begins to overflow? Lottery officials have that covered, with the rules regarding the jackpot cap stating that if the top prize is won at an amount higher than the ‘current jackpot cap’, then that amount becomes the new ‘current jackpot cap’. Should this current top prize continue to roll over, Irish Lotto fans may be familiarising themselves with this rule very soon.
2.) You might know all about Lotto Plus 1 and Plus 2, but were you aware that there’s another Irish Lotto-based game? Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 was first introduced in 1997 and is based on the results of the Irish Lotto and Irish Lotto Plus draws. Players must correctly match between one and five numbers from the main draw, with the prize total available increasing depending on the number of balls matched.
The game is simple; players must select how many numbers they would like to predict, with the price of tickets increasing with each predicted ball. There are two forms of the game available; the 6-Number Game, which offers a maximum jackpot of €125,000, and the 7-Number Game which boasts a top prize of €40,000. Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 ticket holders don’t even need to buy an Irish Lotto ticket to be able to play. Head to the Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 page to learn more.
3.) One sure-fire way to claim the jackpot is to play every single combination of numbers, and that’s exactly what a Dublin-based syndicate attempted to do in 1990. Fronted by Stefan Klincewicz, a Polish-Irish businessman, the group of 28 spent six months marking play slips before heading out to purchase all possible combinations just days before the draw, with their ultimate aim to win every single prize going, including the jackpot.
The Irish National Lottery became wise to the plan and attempted to intervene by limiting the number of tickets any one terminal could sell and disabling any terminals the collective were known to be using. The company’s efforts restricted the syndicate to buying just over 80 percent of all possible number combinations, racking up a combined cost of IR£820,000.
Klincewicz and his team were successful in scooping the jackpot, but hadn’t counted on two other players also matching six main numbers, eventually leaving them with a share worth IR£568,682. However, when you include the Match 5 and Match 4 prizes the additional tickets claimed, the group ended the night approximately IR£310,000 in the black. The game, which at that time had been 6/36, has since increased to a 6/47 draw.
