Irish National Lottery “must win” jackpot request denied
Lottery regulator cites the need for more evidence and claims request should be in the “interest of players”
A request for a “must win” jackpot in Ireland’s National Lottery has been put on hold after regulators requested additional information.
The request for was submitted by Premier Lotteries to the Office of the Lottery Regulator in December following the 50th draw without a winner. There have since been an additional 12 draws without a winner scooping the jackpot.
In a statement to The Irish Times, regulator Carol Boate confirmed that a request was made to introduce a “must win” aspect to the draw, however added that any changes to the Lotto game rules must be made in the “interest of players, ensuring the National Lottery is run with all due propriety and, subject to these, that good causes are maximised”. Subsequently, the request was denied with Boate requesting “more information”.
Pressure had already been put on the operator in November following criticism from parliament. Taoiseach Micheál Martin indicated support for a review into the lottery following the capping of prize money at €19m (£16m) despite no winner for a full six months.
The Irish Lotto, which began with 36 balls in 1988, has seen the number of balls increase to 47 resulting in an individual’s chance of winning coming in at 1:10,737,573.