Irish Lotto drops to 45 balls and adds a Monday draw, September 2026

The last 47-ball Irish Lotto draw took place on Wednesday 2 September 2026. From the Saturday 5 September draw, numbers 46 and 47 were retired, and from Monday 7 September a third weekly draw joined the Wednesday and Saturday ones.

The National Lottery said the odds of the Lotto jackpot, and of the top prizes in Lotto Plus 1 and 2, would improve from 1 in 10.7 million to 1 in 8.1 million. The Irish Times reported that it expected about 28 Lotto millionaires a year, against 15 the year before. The Lotto Plus 2 top prize rose from €250,000 to €1 million and the Lotto Raffle was dropped. Prices stayed at €4 for two lines, or €6 with Lotto Plus.

There is a trade-off. The cap at which the jackpot stops growing came down from €19.06 million to €16 million, and the operator expected the average jackpot win to fall from about €6.9 million to €5.9 million.

It is the first time the pool of numbers has shrunk. Lotto began on 16 April 1988 with six numbers from 36, and the pool grew to 39 in 1992, 42 in 1994, 45 in 2006 and 47 in 2015.

Sources

• The Irish Times: Boost for players as National Lottery reduces number of balls in draw (16 July 2026) (irishtimes.com)
• The National Lottery: Change is coming! (press release, 2026) (lottery.ie)
• TheJournal.ie: The Lotto is killing off two balls and adding an extra draw on Mondays (July 2026) (thejournal.ie)
• Public Gaming: Irish National Lottery announces first draw date for the new Lotto (3 August 2026) (publicgaming.com)
• Lottery.co.uk: Irish Lotto history (lottery.co.uk)