The lotto has only been won once this year

It was won in March after rolling over many times to reach 12 million.
It has rolled over 18 times since then and should be over 12 million on Saturday.
Rollovers used to be the exception, now somebody winning the lotto on a given week is the exception.
And it costs a full fiver to play - hmm, maybe that's why nobody is winning it .. fewer are playing it in the first place.
Do you still play it? I can't remember the last time I did. It's not encouraging when you see so few winners. A bit like Mondelez coming in and destroying our chocolate against the wishes of the population, it seems the Canadian crowd who now run the lotto have destroyed it.

Also, how come you rarely see enormous euromillions jackpots anymore? 5 or 6 years ago jackpots of 130, 160, 190 million were regular enough - now they're much lower. Since you've virtually no chance of winning, I'm only willing to play if the prize is head-meltingly big.

gifted

It's too expensive to play and the odds of winning have gone crazy

GLaDOS

They added more balls didn't they?

Would decrease the chances of winning

The_Valeyard

Instead of playing, save that six or seven Euro each week and buy something nice at end of year.

Winterlong

Yeah, they changed ownership of it last year increased the numbers (reduced chance of winning) and increased the price I think. So less people willing to pay to play.
So more numbers and less players = less chance of jackpot been won.

RocketRaccoon

I love when myself and my fiancée do play the lotto because we inevitably spend the whole evening before the draw saying what we would do with the money. I don't think we've ever even won a scratchcard.

seamus

You do still see big euromillions jackpots, they just seem to get a lot less coverage now when they're not won by someone in Ireland.

But yeah, they reduced the odds in the Irish lotto in order to create more rollovers.

Also - I recall the new owners saying they were setting up the structure to provide more rollovers and bigger prizes, but I recall there being prizes of 18 million, 16 millino etc. years ago before they came in, and seeing as it has taken 18 rollovers to reach 12 million it would probably take 25 -30 rollovers to reach the level of the previous huge prizes, and it definitely didn't rollover 25 or 30 times in the past - 12 or 15 rollovers would have been considered unprecedented.

nhunter100

The amount of advertising for the lotto has increased dramatically in the last year. One winner the advertising industry. Don't play it myself, a tax on hope.

SEPT 23 1989

Its gone to the dogs since the Canadians took over

Radiant Cool Crazy Nightmare

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Its gone to the dogs since the Canadians took over

Canadians oot!

quadrifoglio verde

Any time I get the urge to play, I buy a prizebond instead.
Still entered into a draw and the money is there should I ever want it back.
Decent prizes, but you dont loose your money.
Its 520 a year to do a quickpick for each draw
Those lotto tickets are expensive bits of paper.

sbsquarepants

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Instead of playing, save that six or seven Euro each week and buy something nice at end of year.

€7 x 52 = €364.

How many miles do you think my Lamborghini will do on that much juice?
It wouldn't get me to the next garage ffs, what is wrong with you!

Guy:Incognito

The_Valeyard wrote: »

Instead of playing, save that six or seven Euro each week and buy something nice at end of year.

Like a yacht? Cos if I win the euromillions I'm buying one of those.

myshirt

Now the only chance you have of getting six matching balls is if you get caught flat footed with two Thai birds.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Kimbot

Sure its grand the 12 mill is waiting for me :P

Lux23

I did it yesterday for the first time in yonks and it cost €5; there is no way I would do that regularly - its too expensive.

Tabnabs

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Even the basic €17m will get you a commercially coded superyacht at the entry level size. A half decent roll over sum would buy quite a bit. You then charter it out and have it pay for itself for the time you don't use it.

http://www.camperandnicholsons.com/superyachts-for-sale.htm

Where there's a will, there's a way...

The_Valeyard

sbsquarepants wrote: »

€7 x 52 = €364.

How many miles do you think my Lamborghini will do on that much juice?
It wouldn't get me to the next garage ffs, what is wrong with you!

The model toy shop can supply you with an extra battery or two. :P

dev100

It has to be having a knock on effect to their profit margin . They have to recoup and make a profit from buying the lotto. It's gone to bloody dear for anyone to do .

astrofool

Lux23 wrote: »

I did it yesterday for the first time in yonks and it cost €5; there is no way I would do that regularly - its too expensive.

It's not, it's precisely the price it needs to be to offer the prizes that it offers.

If it was less expensive, the prizes would be lower.

So, what you really want is a lotto with lower winning prizes.

BattleCorp

The odds of winning the lotto significantly increase when you actually do the lotto.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Winterlong

astrofool wrote: »

It's not, it's precisely the price it needs to be to offer the prizes that it offers.

If it was less expensive, the prizes would be lower.

So, what you really want is a lotto with lower winning prizes.

Less cost = more players per draw = higher prizes more often?

bladespin

Yeah, the odds are pretty bad (were they ever good?) so I stopped playing a couple of years ago bar for the odd 'big' jackpot, funny thing is I won more playing that way than I did before lol; no biggies though.

I switched the €5 I was using each draw over to a few bets at the weekend, returned a good profit last year, you can't win as much but you can win more often.

gimli2112

BattleCorp wrote: »

The odds of winning the lotto significantly increase when you actually do the lotto.

it actually doesn't

BattleCorp

gimli2112 wrote: »

it actually doesn't

Come again?

I've a miniscule chance of winning the lotto if I buy a ticket.

I've zero chance of winning the lotto if I buy a ticket.

Therefore, the odds of winning the lotto, while miniscule, are better if you buy a ticket for the feckin thing.

gimli2112

no I agree you have a better chance just not a "significantly" better one
something like 1 in 10 million
I'll pick a number between 1 and 10M and if you can guess it I'll give you a fiver

Kimbot

gimli2112 wrote: »

no I agree you have a better chance just not a "significantly" better one
something like 1 in 10 million
I'll pick a number between 1 and 10M and if you can guess it I'll give you a fiver

The number you are thinking of is BEER. Ill take my fiver now thanks very much :pac:

Tabnabs

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

Entry level SY is €5m +-, so the euromillions gives quite the choice.

Everyone charters, it's just another part of the business portfollio. Even [redacted] is a fan of this model and you can have his "boat" for a half a mill a week...

valoren

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Like a yacht? Cos if I win the euromillions I'm buying one of those.

Just one? Ah here! :pac:

Harry Palmr

At a fiver a pop the Irish lotto is far too expensive to consider a checkout frippery, I only do the euromillions (every so often)

valoren

Syndicates on the Euromillions are the way forward. €2 per draw.

koumi

I'm not a regular but every now and again I'll pick up a ticket and I've won more times than I've lost but usually small sums like scratchcards or small amounts of cash. The same with scratchers, if I'm feeling "lucky" while I'm at the til I'll get one, knowing that it will more than likely roll over a few times and I'll get my moneys worth, have rarely bought one where I didn't get a free ticket, four euro or eight euro and I end up playing the winnings over about a week, something to do when I sit down with a cup of coffee. I love that winning feeling but I tend to trust my gut with these things and don't go out buying specifically and only purchase if I feel there's something to play for. The lotto is a little bit like life, maybe someday something big will turn up.

koumi

koumi wrote: »

The lotto is a little bit like life, maybe someday something big will turn up.

Took a trip to the shop after this post used my change to buy a couple of scratch cards (3e) and managed to more than double my money, I'll probably use it to buy lotto ticket over the weekend. Ta kindly for the inspiration and if I win big I'll make sure to share

check_six

koumi wrote: »

...I've won more times than I've lost...

Interesting, very interesting. You may be a statistical outlier there. We may all start investing in your stocks and shares tips next!

The odds of winning the lotto have changed over time. They started off with 36 numbers making the odds just under 2 million to 1. (36*35*34*33*32*31)/(6*5*4*3*2*1). With 4 and a bit million people in the country you'd probably get a good enough set of unique selections to get a jackpot winner every couple of weeks.

One very organised syndicate famously tried to buy all the combinations one week when there was a big jackpot and a guarantee of ?100 for a match 4. They just about got away with a profit after ending up sharing the jackpot with 3 or 4 other solo players.

The numbers now go up to 47 so the odds against picking the right numbers are 10.7 million to 1. The population may only choose 400,000 or 500,000 unique combinations every draw (if that), so you've got say a 20 to 1 chance of anyone winning a given draw. Hence, loads of rollovers.

Outside of the quickpicks, some combinations of numbers appear more often, such as 1,2,3,4,5,6. It has just as much a chance of any other combo of winning, but the problems start when loads of other people have chosen the same winning sequence. Recently in the UK the set of numbers that were drawn were something like 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 41. Turned out that a thousand people had selected a 'lucky number seven' type series that week. They all got 5 out of the 6 numbers, only missing out the last number narrowly (they would have predicted 42 for the last number). Unfortunately, the way the prize fund works meant that they got less money than if they had just got 4 of the 6 numbers!

The chance of winning the lotto is very very low. If you've done the lotto just one time and you didn't win, that's about as close as you'll ever get. The odds don't increase for you personally if you do it every week. But, that's not the point really. The point is trying to work out what you'll name your yacht when you *do* win! "The Flying Teapot" has a nice ring to it.

There's also the sense that a few million just isn't as alluring as even it's inflation-adjusted equivalent was years ago. Like winning £2 million in 2000 would probably have been more exciting than winning 10 million euro now even though the latter is more money adjusted for inflation.

koumi

check_six wrote: »

Interesting, very interesting. You may be a statistical outlier there. We may all start investing in your stocks and shares tips next!

The odds of winning the lotto have changed over time. They started off with 36 numbers making the odds just under 2 million to 1. (36*35*34*33*32*31)/(6*5*4*3*2*1). With 4 and a bit million people in the country you'd probably get a good enough set of unique selections to get a jackpot winner every couple of weeks.

One very organised syndicate famously tried to buy all the combinations one week when there was a big jackpot and a guarantee of ?100 for a match 4. They just about got away with a profit after ending up sharing the jackpot with 3 or 4 other solo players.

The numbers now go up to 47 so the odds against picking the right numbers are 10.7 million to 1. The population may only choose 400,000 or 500,000 unique combinations every draw (if that), so you've got say a 20 to 1 chance of anyone winning a given draw. Hence, loads of rollovers.

Outside of the quickpicks, some combinations of numbers appear more often, such as 1,2,3,4,5,6. It has just as much a chance of any other combo of winning, but the problems start when loads of other people have chosen the same winning sequence. Recently in the UK the set of numbers that were drawn were something like 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 41. Turned out that a thousand people had selected a 'lucky number seven' type series that week. They all got 5 out of the 6 numbers, only missing out the last number narrowly (they would have predicted 42 for the last number). Unfortunately, the way the prize fund works meant that they got less money than if they had just got 4 of the 6 numbers!

The chance of winning the lotto is very very low. If you've done the lotto just one time and you didn't win, that's about as close as you'll ever get. The odds don't increase for you personally if you do it every week. But, that's not the point really. The point is trying to work out what you'll name your yacht when you *do* win! "The Flying Teapot" has a nice ring to it.

That's why I take pics now, I've had this same discussion with friends and co workers before so I started taking shots of tickets or holding receipts from cashing in winning scratchers and usually get about a weeks worth of play from my initial investment. I'll see how long my initial three euro here lasts and post any winnings if it goes that far. (I never pick numbers myself I just leave it with whatever the machine gives me)

Spanish Eyes

Will only buy a Euromillions ticket when it goes above 30 million. Lotto never. Too many local politicians deciding where the funds go makes me ill.

It's not worth getting out of bed for less than that really.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Stopped doing it when the current mob of incompetent greedy bastards took it over, I'm fcuked if I'm going to finance a bunch of teachers in bloody Canada!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There you go. Two winners shared €12.3million tonight.

koumi

it wasn't me Didin't get to the shop yet

Barry Badrinath

Gemma Juicy Electrician wrote: »

There you go. Two winners shared €12.3million tonight.

The power of Boards.ie!

koumi

I was feeling a bit like I should have done the lotto with my scratchers today considering I could have won a few bob oat the weekend, took myself to the shop earlier and cashed in the previous two winnings cards (7e) and exchanged for three more scratch cards. They were the only ones they had in that shop and never used them before but still managed to claim a total of five euro on two of them.
On the win more than lose point, my initial three euro has played me five scratch cards and I'm still in profit. Will probably cash them in again tomorrow and see how long I can keep the run going. (pics as promised)

Part of the joy of the lotto in a country the size of Ireland was this feeling that the odds were comparable to the population and someone usually won each week.

I looked at it like "Will I be the lucky Irish guy this week?" still knowing the odds are awful.

If people aren't winning, that dream slips away and people do it even less. The increase in odds is ridiculous as is the price.

bladespin

They've gone for the greed factor of huge jackpots, yes it'd be lovely to be insanely rich but it'd be nice to 'feel' like it would be possible.

Tilikum

I did the lotto fri & sat. My misses checked the numbers online.

Won €17 on the lotto & €9 on the euro millions. When she looked at the numbers she notice it was wrong.

Brought them in to be checked instore & the machine said we won €38 on the euro millions.

Although it's shag all money, it just shows you, you should NEVER trust that online checker!

mathie

koumi wrote: »

I was feeling a bit like I should have done the lotto with my scratchers today considering I could have won a few bob oat the weekend, took myself to the shop earlier and cashed in the previous two winnings cards (7e) and exchanged for three more scratch cards. They were the only ones they had in that shop and never used them before but still managed to claim a total of five euro on two of them.
On the win more than lose point, my initial three euro has played me five scratch cards and I'm still in profit. Will probably cash them in again tomorrow and see how long I can keep the run going. (pics as promised)

I work with a girl who once worked in a post office. Some guys came in and robbed a roll of about 200 scratch cards.
The girl was really upset and told her manager.
"Don't worry. They statistically only got about 50 quid." was his reply.

Arne_Saknussem

mathie wrote: »

I work with a girl who once worked in a post office. Some guys came in and robbed a roll of about 200 scratch cards.
The girl was really upset and told her manager.
"Don't worry. They statistically only got about 50 quid." was his reply.

Sounds like bull****, a 2 min phone call and all of those scratch cards would be voided on the system.

mathie

Arne_Saknussem wrote: »

Sounds like bull****, a 2 min phone call and all of those scratch cards would be voided on the system.

It was about 20 years ago. They'd probably have the ability to do it now. Not sure about then.