A request from the Irish National Lottery to implement a ‘must win’ draw has been put on hold by the Office of the Lottery regulator.
As reported by the Irish Times, the regulator has requested more information about the proposed draw, which was requested by Premier Lotteries following criticism that nobody had won a lottery jackpot in Ireland since last June.
Back in December, the CEO of Premier Lotteries Ireland, Andrew Algeo, stated that a must win draw “would ensure that such an improbable long wait for a capped jackpot win cannot occur again”.
The Irish National Lottery has rolled over 62 times, however, with a jackpot cap of €19m, the figure has not changed since September.
Regulator Carol Boate has told The Irish Times that she had turned down Premier Lotteries’ initial request for a must-win draw format, adding that ‘additional information’ was required.
Boate stated that any changes to the lottery format must be in the “interest of players, ensuring the National Lottery is run with all due propriety and, subject to these, that good causes are maximised”.
As a result, the National Lottery will continue in its current guise for the time being, with the additional information ‘pending’.
In December, Boate pointed out that “the current extended period without a jackpot win is unusual in the history of the game, but it is not unusual in the history of lotteries,” highlighting that the Lotto jackpot was won three Saturdays in a row before the barren spell began.
