The Irish National Lottery announces first draw date with new Lotto game changes!
Less Balls in every Lotto draw from Saturday 5th September
The National Lottery has today confirmed that the first draw under its enhanced Lotto game format will take place on Saturday 5th September, marking the beginning of a new era for the game.
Tickets for the new Lotto game will go on sale from Thursday 3rd September.
Recap: Three BIG changes coming in September
As previously announced, the National Lottery's Lotto refresh will introduce a range of enhancements designed to improve players' chances of winning and create more millionaires across the country.
- Less Balls. Better Odds. More Chances to Win
From September, the number of balls in play will reduce from 47 to 45, with numbers 46 and 47 officially retiring from the game.
This will improve the odds of winning across every prize tier in Lotto, Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2. The odds of winning the Lotto jackpot or top prize in each draw will improve from 1 in 10.7 million to 1 in 8.1 million.
From smaller prizes to the jackpot, players will now enjoy improved odds of winning across all prize tiers, in every draw.
- More Opportunities to Become a Millionaire
As previously confirmed, the Lotto Plus 2 top prize will increase from €250,000 to €1 million, creating even more opportunities to make new millionaires.
The Lotto Plus 1 top prize will remain at €1 million, meaning players who choose Lotto with Lotto Plus will have three opportunities to become a millionaire in every Lotto draw.
- Three Draws Every Week
A new Monday draw will be introduced, the first of which will take place on 7th September.
From 7th September, Lotto draws will take place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, giving players three opportunities each week to play and win.
Each draw will continue to be livestreamed at 7:55pm on www.lottery.ie and broadcast before the RTÉ Nine O'Clock News on RTÉ One.
No change to price
There are no changes to the price to play either Lotto or the Lotto Plus games.
Consistent with the current rules, the minimum purchase will remain two lines at a cost of €4. Similarly, it will continue to cost €6 to play two lines of Lotto with Lotto Plus, which includes both the Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 draws.
Important Information for Advance Play and Schedule Play Customers
Advance Play currently allows players to buy tickets up to four weeks (eight draws) in advance of a draw. As the game moves to three draws per week, players will still be able to purchase tickets up to four weeks in advance of a draw; however, this will now cover 12 draws.
As the transition to the new format approaches, the number of draws available through Advance Play on Lotto and Lotto Plus will gradually reduce.
From Saturday 8th August, players purchasing Advance Play tickets will notice a reduction in the number of future draws available as the National Lottery prepares for the final draw (Wednesday 2nd September) with 47 balls.
Online players with Lotto schedules set up will be contacted in advance to make the necessary adjustments to their schedules. These players must respond to ensure their schedules remain active following the game change.
Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish Language. In total, over €7 billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 39 years ago. In 2024 alone, €239.3 million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland. Responsible Play is a core focus for the National Lottery which has a range of safeguarding measures in place to protect players both online and in-store. The National Lottery strives to ensure its player protection measures operate to the highest standard and remain best-in-class.
18+ Play National Lottery games responsibly, play for fun.
https://www.lottery.ie/news/press-releases/the-national-lottery-announces-first-draw-date-with-new-lotto-game-changes