More winners will be guaranteed with new must-win draws for the National Lottery as executives hope to eliminate potluck, jackpot rollovers. Following an astonishing 51 week-rollover, Andrew Algeo is calling for a new ruling which will see prizes such as the still unclaimed €19 million jackpot go after a certain period of time.
Andrew Algeo, of Premier Lotteries Ireland, will call for regulatory approval, this Wednesday when he appears before the Oireachtas finance committee. The chief executive is seeking changes to ensure “an improbably long wait for a capped jackpot win cannot occur again”.
Within Algeo’s submission, the company proposes a ruling which will see a guaranteed winner by rewarding those who match 5 numbers. This “would also allow us to provide certainty to Lotto players, as to the latest date on which this record €19 million jackpot will be won by”.
Capped at a whopping €19 million since October, the prize has continued to build since the last winner in June. Noted in the Irish Times; capped at €190 million, the EuroMillions jackpot is won after five consecutive rollovers. Occurring once in its 20-year history, unclaimed jackpots requiring 5 numbers and two-star numbers are shared at the next prize tier.
Mr Algeo will tell TDs and Senators on the committee that it is “highly unusual” no winners would surface for more than six months. The CE will say, “given the tickets purchased since early June; the chances are akin to rolling a die 37 times without the number six arising.”
“Then again, it was somewhat unusual that we had Lotto jackpot winners on three consecutive Saturdays just before this long roll. Variation in jackpot roll lengths occur because each lottery draw is a pure game of chance without memory.”
Stressing it is within the interest of the National Lottery that the jackpot was seen as “both aspirational and possible”, which Algeo believes meant jackpots would have to be “large enough and won frequently enough”.
Derek Donohoe will tell the committee that the Lotto was “operating in line with the game rules”, with “no regulatory issues” calling the draw into question. Within the submission of National Lotter’s deputy regulator, Mr Donohoe notes that “independent observers from KPMG attend every Lotto draw.
“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. Statistically unlikely events are part of the nature of games of chance and lotteries,” added Algeo.
