How to Play Irish Lotto: Rules & Draw Times

Irish Lotto is Ireland's home-grown national lottery, run continuously since the late 1980s. Here's who can play, how the numbers work, and what to expect from a draw.

Who can play

Irish Lotto is operated by the National Lottery for players in Ireland, with tickets sold through retailers and the official National Lottery app and website inside the country. Players outside Ireland sometimes take part through licensed international betting services, which is a different arrangement from buying an official ticket directly.

How to play

Choose 6 main numbers from 1 to 47. Six numbers plus one Bonus Ball are drawn; matching all 6 main numbers wins the jackpot outright — no bonus ball required. Several lower prize tiers reward matching fewer main numbers, with the Bonus Ball used as a tiebreaker at some levels.

Draw schedule and ticket price

Draws are held every Wednesday and Saturday at around 20:00 Irish time. Each line costs €2, but tickets must be bought in a minimum of two lines, so €4 is the smallest possible entry.

Jackpot size and odds

The jackpot starts at around €2 million and can grow to a cap of roughly €19 million before further rollovers move down into lower prize tiers. With a 6-from-47 format and no separate bonus pool required for the top prize, the jackpot odds are 1 in 10,737,573 — the best jackpot odds of any lottery LottoScopeX tracks. See our full odds comparison for how that compares to the other six.

A brief history

Ireland's National Lottery began operating in March 1987, and the Lotto game held its first draw on 16 April 1988. It's been through several format changes since, including adjustments to the number pool and ticket price, most recently moving to €2 per line with a two-line minimum in 2015.

See real Irish Lotto statistics

LottoScopeX tracks every Irish Lotto draw with colourful ball displays just like the latest result — browse Irish Lotto results, number frequencies & probability patterns.