THE NATIONAL LOTTERY is making one of the biggest changes to the Irish Lotto in years, cutting the number of balls from 47 to 45 and introducing a brand-new Monday night draw.

The overhaul will come into effect this autumn.

The biggest change is the reduction in the number of balls, with numbers 46 and 47 effectively being retired from the game.

That means the odds of matching all six numbers will improve (by a miniscule amount) from around one in 10.7 million to one in 8.1 million across the Lotto, Lotto Plus One and Lotto Plus Two games.

Lottery bosses say the changes are designed to improve players’ chances of winning while creating more jackpot winners.

The numbers 46 and 47 will no longer be included in the draws. Sophie Finn / The Journal Sophie Finn / The Journal / The Journal

The overall odds of winning any prize will also improve, falling from one in 28.7 to one in 25.4 on a standard Lotto ticket.

Alongside the smaller pool of numbers, a new Monday draw will join the existing Wednesday and Saturday draws.

Like the existing draws, the new draw will also be livestreamed online before RTÉ’s Nine O’Clock News.

Another significant change comes to Lotto Plus Two, where the top prize will increase fourfold from €250,000 to €1 million.

Combined with the existing €1 million Lotto Plus One prize, players who purchase Lotto Plus will now have three separate opportunities to become millionaires with every draw.

The average jackpot is also expected to increase, with the National Lottery forecasting a typical top prize of €6.9 million rising to €9 million.

Despite the changes, ticket prices will remain unchanged. It will continue to cost a minimum of €4 to play two Lotto lines, or €6 for two Lotto lines with Lotto Plus.

The maximum jackpot will, however, reduce from €19.06 million to €16 million. Once the cap is reached, the existing “Must Be Won” roll-down mechanism will still apply after the fifth draw at the limit.

The cap was first introduced in recent years. Between June 2021 and January 2022, the jackpot rolled over a record 63 consecutive draws, reaching its capped maximum of €19.06 million.

The unprecedented run prompted calls for an investigation and renewed political pressure to make the game easier to win, with Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan urging the National Lottery to revert to a smaller number pool.

National Lottery chief executive Cian Murphy said the new reduction to €16 million was “in line with wanting to see the jackpot won more frequently”.

“Still, I would say €16 million is big in almost anyone’s language,” he added.

One element that is disappearing entirely is the Lotto Raffle, which will no longer form part of the game under the new format.

Murphy said the changes were designed following feedback from players.

“By removing two balls, the odds of winning have improved across Lotto and the Plus games, while the enhanced Lotto Plus Two prize and an additional draw night will give players even more chances to win,” Murphy said.

“Together, these changes are all about delivering more winners and more millionaires.”

The Irish Lotto has undergone several major changes since it first launched with a single Saturday night draw, for which players would choose six numbers from a pool of 36 numbers.

The most recent major overhaul came in 2015, when the number of balls increased from 45 to 47 and ticket prices rose after the National Lottery moved into private ownership.