Lotto sales still high despite record-breaking jackpot rolling over for 49 draws
THE sale of Lotto tickets has remained static over the past few draws – despite negative publicity over the “unwinnable” €19m jackpot.
A special Irish Mirror investigation has found that punters have maintained their interest in the Lotto, even though the jackpot will rollover for a staggering 50th time on Wednesday night.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan recently called on Taoiseach Micheal Martin to intervene to demand an audit of the Lotto draw, with the jackpot not being won since June 6.
Deputy Durkan said this showed it was becoming “unwinnable”, as he called for a number of the 47 balls to be dropped, stating: “Shergar had a better chance of winning Squid Game”.
However, figures show this hasn’t put the public off from buying Lotto lines in the hope of winning the big jackpot.
In last Saturday’s draw, €1.87m was dished out in prizes to 141,040 winners in the main jackpot draw, Lotto Plus One and Lotto Plus Two.
That was an increase in €251,863 in the prize money handed out in the previous draw, even though that had 184,407 winners.
Sources say these figures show tickets sales for each individual draw — which the National Lottery does not divulge — have remained steady, despite the controversy.
A source told The Mirror : “The sales for the Saturday draw are normally stronger than for the midweek draw, but the breakdown of prize money for winners over the recent draws gives a good indication of the interest in the Lotto, and it is fair to say it has remained static.
“A €19m jackpot would naturally create a fair bit of excitement, and that still seems to be there.”