New Irish Lottery Game Changes

Exciting changes to Irish Lottery games have now taken effect, including changes to Irish Lotto, Lotto Plus, and Lotto 5-4-3-2-1. The new game formats came into effect on Thursday 3rd September 2026, bringing a range of updates to ball pools, draw schedules, Advance Play, and prizes.

Advance Play Schedule Change

Advance Play restrictions were introduced in the lead-up to the game changes. Following the draw break on the 8th August, players were limited to entering 1, 2, or 4 draws. After the 22nd August draw break, this was reduced to 1 or 2 draws, before being reduced to a single draw following the 29th August draw break.

Advance Play has now reopened for all new 45-ball games as of 6:00 AM on 3rd September.

Any players with active schedules containing numbers 46 or 47 had their schedules cancelled before the changes took effect. Players with schedules that did not contain 46 or 47 were asked to confirm whether they wanted their schedules to remain active. Any schedules that were not confirmed were automatically cancelled.

Lotto Pick & Play (Formerly Lotto 5-4-3-2-1)

Lotto 5-4-3-2-1 has now been renamed Lotto Pick & Play. The game remains largely unchanged, although the ball pool has been reduced from 47 to 45 numbers.

The fixed prizes across both the 6-number and 7-number games have also been updated. See the prize table below for the new amounts.

Ball Pool Changes

The biggest change to the Irish Lottery games is the reduction in the ball pool from 47 to 45 numbers. Numbers 46 and 47 have now been permanently removed from the games, meaning the odds of winning have changed.

The new 45-ball format applies to Lotto, Lotto Plus 1, Lotto Plus 2, and Lotto Pick & Play.

Other Changes

The price to play remains unchanged across all of the affected lottery games. Lotto continues to cost €2 per line, with a minimum of two lines required per draw for a total cost of €4. Lotto Plus remains €1 to enter, while Lotto Pick & Play wagers continue to range from €1 to €5.

The draw schedule has also changed, with a new Monday draw now taking place alongside the existing Wednesday and Saturday draws. Each draw is livestreamed at 7:55 PM on lottery.ie and broadcast before the RTÉ Nine O'Clock News on RTÉ One.

The Lotto jackpot cap remains at €2 million per roll cycle, while the overall jackpot cap has been reduced from approximately €19.06 million to €16 million. Must Be Won roll-downs continue to be triggered at the fifth draw when the jackpot has reached the €16 million cap.