Lotto chiefs seek to introduce must-be-won jackpot
The must-be-won draw will be suggested by Andrew Algeo, chief executive of Premier Lotteries Ireland, in his opening statement to Wednesday's Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance.
National Lottery chiefs are seeking regulatory approval to introduce a must-be-won draw to avoid jackpots rolling over for months without a winner.
The move has been suggested by Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) to resolve the current situation where the Lotto jackpot has not been won for over six months.
In the UK, a guaranteed win scenario comes into effect after four draws fail to yield a jackpot winner. In the event that a fifth draw fails to produce a jackpot, the total prize fund is rolled down and distributed among people who have the next best tickets.
The must-be-won draw will be suggested by Andrew Algeo, chief executive of PLI, in his opening statement to Wednesday's Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance.
“It is in PLI’s interests, and those of all stakeholders including our customers, that winning the jackpot is seen as both aspirational and possible,” he will tell members.
“That requires jackpots to be both large enough and won frequently enough.
“We know our customers want this Lotto jackpot to be won soon, as do we.
“So, we have sought regulatory approval to introduce a must-be-won draw into the Lotto game rules, which would ensure that such an improbably long wait for a capped jackpot win cannot occur again.
"That would also allow us to provide certainty to Lotto players, as to the latest date on which this record €19m jackpot will be won by.”
Responding to recent concerns about the so-called 'unwinnable jackpot', he will say: "The recent rollover of the Lotto draw has received significant attention in past weeks with two specific concerns raised.
"The first is whether there is something amiss with the draw process.
"Lotto draws are operating in accordance with the game rules, with nothing amiss.
"The second concern expressed was that the Lotto game design is unwinnable.
"The Lotto jackpot can be won, as the six-year history of the current game design clearly shows.
"It is highly unusual that this Lotto jackpot still has no winner. Given the tickets purchased since early June, the chances are akin to rolling a die 37 times without the number 6 arising.
"Then again it was somewhat unusual that we had Lotto jackpot winners on three consecutive Saturdays just before this long roll.
"Variation in jackpot roll lengths occur because each lottery draw is a pure game of chance without memory."
Barely a year into the 20-year license the Government awarded it, PLI decided to make it harder for the average punter to win the lottery by adding two numbers.
In September 2015, the game adopted the 6/47 format, up on the previous 6/45 format, and in doing so lowered the chances of winning even further to 1 in 10,737,573.
PLI will claim in its statement on Wednesday that it did this in response to "customer feedback for higher jackpots".
The company will also state that since 2015, National Lottery ticket sales have grown by an average of 6.6% per year and sales of Lotto games were higher in 2020 than in 2015.
