Low numbers and picking your birthday: Why are so many Lotto jackpots not won? 

In the Lotto, you can pick six numbers ranging from 1 to 47. However, the most popular numbers are the lower ones, particularly those that correspond to dates in a month such as for a person’s birthday (1-31). File photo: Mac Innes Photography

It’s “far from unlikely” that Ireland’s Lotto jackpot could continue to rollover for weeks and months at a time, a leading mathematician has said, with Saturday night’s draw coming after 13 consecutive weeks without a winner.

Dr Michael Cronin, from University College Cork, published a paper last year on the phenomenon in the wake of the National Lottery’s “must-win” €19m draw in January 2022 which came after the jackpot hadn’t been won for over six months.