Record €19m Lotto jackpot ‘will be won’ on Saturday
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The record €19m jackpot that has been rolling for seven months will be won on Saturday, Lotto bosses have confirmed.
There was no winner of the jackpot in tonight’s draw and it has been rolling since June 9, 2021.
The jackpot has been capped at €19.06m since October 2, but there has yet to be a winner.
Saturday will see a guaranteed “will be won” event take place. If the jackpot is not won outright, the full value of the jackpot prize will flow down to the winner (or winners) of the next winning prize tier.
“We know that most of our Lotto players would like to see the €19m jackpot won, so we are delighted to be able to make this announcement,” said a National Lottery spokesperson.
“While this current Lotto jackpot rollover is truly unprecedented, and has generated so much excitement and participation in the Lotto game, the National Lottery is now pleased to announce that this ‘will be won’ event will take place on January 15.”
This Saturday Ireland's biggest ever #Lotto Jackpot WILL BE WON. Guaranteed.
Play early so you don't miss out. #ItCouldBeYou
— The Irish National Lottery (@NationalLottery) January 12, 2022
The jackpot has caused plenty of controversy in recent weeks with TD Bernard Durkan hitting out at the lack of a winner last November.
“I’m old enough to remember 1986 when there were 36 balls and that’s how it should have stayed,” Mr Durkan said, who also claimed: “This didn’t happen in Ronan Collins’ day.”
It led to Lotto bosses appearing before an Oireachtas committee in December, where it was heard that they were seeking regulatory approval to introduce a must-be-won draw to avoid jackpots rolling over for months without a winner.
The current rollover will not be seen again as it was also announced that there will be a limit on draws after the prize cap is reached.
“The National Lottery will operate the same ‘will be won’ event going forward, with Lotto jackpots guaranteed to be won no more than five draws after the cap has been reached,” said a spokesperson.
When the top prize is capped, the money that would go towards the jackpot flows down to the lower prize tiers in each of the subsequent draws.
“Since the Lotto jackpot reached the €19.06m cap last October, we have seen winners at lower prize tiers benefitting from the prize roll down of approximately €23.9m, the biggest winner of all has been the Good Causes Fund which will benefit directly from €53m in funding from this Lotto roll cycle alone,” added the spokesperson.
Three players were one number away from the top prize in Wednesday’s draw, however, they scooped €253,314 each after matching five numbers plus the bonus.
The numbers drawn were 5, 7, 10, 19, 21, 35 and the bonus was 36.
Officials confirmed that two of the winning tickets were sold online while the other was sold in Dublin.
