Regulator: Lotto games should show odds of winning as probability 'difficult to understand'

The report states that the amount of the National Lottery’s turnover returned to the Exchequer for good causes had increased by 14% from 2020 to €289.7m.

The National Lottery regulator called for the odds of winning a prize on the lottery’s games to be included on the games themselves after complaints were received from players.

The regulator said that due to probability and randomness being “difficult concepts to understand”, it made sense to include the odds of winning “in players’ interests”.

It said the recommendation had been arrived at following a review of the issue it carried out in 2021, and that the lottery’s private operator Premier Lotteries Ireland had agreed.

At present the lottery’s website gives the odds of victory for every game on their individual webpage, while mobile apps are being upgraded and individual scratch cards will likewise be updated as new versions are printed, the regulator said.

The issue is revealed in the regulator’s annual report for 2021, which was published on Wednesday. The report also notes an issue with marketing communications for the lottery, which had continued to be sent to players who had chosen to self-exclude themselves from playing the games online.

That issue was first identified by the operator itself which noted a “time lag” of up to 36 hours between a player choosing to self-exclude – typically in order to avert problem-gambling events – and the system recognising that decision had been made.

In detailing the matter, the regulator said it had confirmed that none of the 48 players who self-excluded and who were then sent marketing communications had actually been able to play the lottery’s games in that time, the suspension of play having taken immediate effect.

While the regulator deemed that Premier Lotteries had breached its licence by allowing the communications to take place, it deemed that since the company had moved to correct the issue and had gained no benefit from what had happened that no further action was necessary.

2021 results

Separately, the regulator said that 2021 had been noteworthy due to the amendment of the lottery licence to enable remote claiming for large prizes. The report states that the amount of the lottery’s turnover returned to the Exchequer for good causes had increased by 14% from 2020 to €289.7m.

It said that some of that change could be attributed to the sales generated by the record €19.1m lotto jackpot rollover, which was eventually won by a single player in January of this year.

Ticket sales for 2021 meanwhile increased by over €100m from 2020 to €1.05bn last year, the regulator said. Much of this increase could be seen in the lottery’s online sales channel, which grew by just under 30% to represent roughly one in six sales over the 12-month period. This statistic was “unsurprising”, the regulator said, given the increase in online sales due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Regulator Carol Boate said that 2021, no different to 2020, had “presented its own obstacles and opportunities... to address in the interests of players”. She said that the manner in which the regulator operates “prioritises the interests of players”.

“I am confident that the oversight, monitoring, and enforcement carried out in 2021 will further protect and safeguard players, and the propriety of the National Lottery,” she said.