How To Bet On The Irish Lotto

Start Here Do you want to Bet on 1 - 5 balls with an online bookie? Or Select 6 balls in the more traditional way to have a chance to win a jackpot with online lottery jackpot betting companies? Unsure? Read More.

If you bet on the Irish Lotto at an online bookmaker you can choose to bet on between 1 - 5 balls. This gives you great flexibility and means you can win up to £150,000 from a £1 stake.

If you Select 6 balls in the more traditional way with online jackpot betting companies, you have a chance to win the jackpot as well as smaller pay-outs - this can be £10,000,000 or more.

The main differences between the two options are the probability of winning, flexibility and the potential winnings. Betting on 1 - 5 balls gives greater flexibility and can offer a higher probability of getting a return - however if you Select 6 balls, you’re in with the chance to scoop a life changing jackpot.

Bet On 1 - 5 Balls At Bookies

Overview

Many of our users love betting on 1 - 5 balls on the Irish Lottery for the great odds and flexibility they can get. For example, with Betfred you can win £700 for 3 correct balls from a £1 stake*. Plus, some of the online bookmakers have great introductory offers for lotto betting. We score and rank all of the companies on 10 key categories here. Now, let’s look at the simple steps on how to place an Irish Lotto bet:

* Odds Disclaimer: The displayed odds are intended as a guide only and whilst we work hard to ensure they're up to date, they are subject to change from the operators. Odds correct as of 16/11/2023. Please always check odds on the betting operator site before placing any bets. #Ad. Find out more on our How Our Site Works page.



Step 1: Select An Online Bookmaker

Many bookmakers offer betting on the Irish Lotto - Betfred, Ladbrokes, bet365 - to name a few.

The odds vary bookmaker to bookmaker, some have welcome bonuses and some don’t, some you will be familiar with and others you won’t. We have created a page especially for comparing bookmakers that offer the Irish Lottery here. All of the companies compared are fully regulated. For this guide we’re going to use Betfred as an example as they’re #1 user rated on our site.

Compare All Irish Lotto Bookmakers select a bookmaker

IRISH LOTTO OFFERS

Betfred lotto

Betfred


Boyle Sports lotto

Boyle Sports


Step 2: Register and Deposit with your chosen company

When you’ve decided which company you’re going to try first for Irish Lotto betting, you’ll need to:

  1. Click through a link on our site
  2. Complete registration
  3. Deposit £/€5 or more

You may be entitled to a fantastic welcome offer.


Step 3: Lucky Dip Or Select Your Own Numbers?

Do you know what numbers you want to choose? Then select ‘Bet With New Numbers’ and select your numbers. Alternatively, if you select ‘Lucky Dip’ then Betfred will randomly select numbers for you.

lucky dip or select own numbers

Step 4: How Many Numbers To Select

You can choose to bet on between 1 - 5 numbers on the Irish Lotto. The more numbers you bet on, the more you could win. For example, if you had a winning bet of £1 on 3 balls with Betfred at odds of 700/1 that would return £701 (£700 winnings plus your initial stake of £1 back). If you had a winning bet on 5 balls at 150,000/1, that would return £150,001 (150,000/1 plus your initial stake).*

Try our handy Odds Calculator to compare your winnings.

* Odds Disclaimer: The displayed odds are intended as a guide only and whilst we work hard to ensure they're up to date, they are subject to change from the operators. Odds correct as of 31/03/2020 Please always check odds on the betting operator site before placing any bets. Where the odds are the same our rating (promotions, usability, reputation) are taken into account

selecting numbers

Time to dispel a few lotto betting myths:

Does my stake change depending on the number of balls I select? No. You decide how much you want to bet regardless of the amount of balls you select to bet on.

Does the ball order of results affect my winnings? No. For example, if you select the balls 5, 15, 25 and the Irish Lotto results appear as 3, 5, 12, 15, 25, 34 you would still win.


Step 5: With Or Without The Bonus Ball?

By including the bonus ball you increase the chances that your numbers will appear. For example, if you select 3 balls without the bonus ball you have 5 balls of which you need to match 3 correctly to win. If you include the bonus ball you have 6 balls of which you need to match 3 correctly. The catch? Including the bonus ball lowers the odds - for example, 3 balls with Betfred without the bonus ball is 700/1 vs 375/1 with it.

including the bonus ball

Step 6: One Or Multiple Lines?

‘Lines’ are essentially bets. If you want to have more than one bet on the same draw select ‘Add Another Line’. This will mean an additional stake from your original bet.

one or multiple lines

Bonus Step: Add To Favourites?

With Betfred, and a couple of other bookmakers, you can save numbers to your ‘favourites’. This is a fantastic innovative feature and makes it easier to come back and place a bet again in the future.

add to favourites

Step 7: Choose Draws

Here you can select the draws you want to bet on. You can bet on the +1 and +2 draws (which offer the same odds as the main draw). With Betfred you can also bet on up to 4 weeks in advance – this is really useful and saves time for future weeks.

(This is one of the categories we rate the online bookmakers on)

Choose draws

Step 8: Enter Stake

Enter your stake. You will now see potential returns - time to start dreaming about what you’ll spend your winnings on!

You’ll need to enter a stake for each line and bet type you’ve chosen. The stakes will be multiplied by the number of draws you have selected.

The minimum stakes vary between companies. With Betfred Lotto you need to have a minimum stake unit of £0.05 for any individual bet and the overall total bet slip amount must total a minimum of 50p

(Minimum stake is one of the 10 categories we rate the online bookmakers on)

enter stake

Step 9: Multiple Bets

Multiple bets or combination bets are an interesting option offered by many online bookmakers. They can seem a bit daunting and complicated but essentially Multiples are a combination of different bet types from the same selection of numbers. The total combinations, also known as the number of bets, is multiplied by your unit stake to provide your total stake.

Let’s look at a simple example:

  • You choose 2 numbers: 7 & 11
  • You can have multiple bets involving these 2 numbers:
    • One single bet that only requires that 7 will be drawn at odds of 6/1
    • Another separate single bet that only requires that 11 will be drawn at odds of 6/1
    • A double bet that requires that both 7 & 11 will be drawn at odds of 60/1

There are more complicated bets such as the great named Lucky 15. This entails 15 bets involving 4 ball number selections: 4 Singles, 6 Doubles, 4 Trebles and 1 Four-fold. At least one number must be drawn in order for you to get a return.

multiple bets

Step 10: Check Results

Check out our Irish Lotto Results page to see if you’ve won.

The Irish Lotto is drawn twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 19:45pm (GMT). (Normally you need to have your bets placed between 15-30 minutes before the draw takes place).

check results

What Are You Waiting For?

Start comparing bookmakers and find the best place to bet on the Irish Lotto

Compare Irish Lotto Bookmakers

Select 6 Balls With Jackpot Betting Companies

Overview

Jackpot betting created huge excitement in the Lotto world with the revolutionary opportunity to win international lottery jackpots from around the globe including the Irish Lotto Jackpot.

Historically if someone based in the UK wanted to win the Irish Lotto jackpot, the only way would be to:

  • Travel to Ireland
  • Or trust and pay for a ticket buying company who buys and holds a ticket on your behalf

For a fraction of the price of ticket buying companies, customers can now engage with worldwide lotteries and win jackpots – wherever they live. This includes the ever popular Irish Lottery jackpot.

Rather than buying tickets directly with the lotteries, a fixed odds bet is simply made on your chosen numbers. However unlike traditional bookmakers where you can only bet on up to 5 numbers, you can win the full jackpots. The smaller payouts come from bet revenues and jackpots are underwritten by massive international insurance networks


Step 1: Choose An Online Lotto Jackpot Betting Company

There are now a great range of companies giving you the chance to win the Irish Lotto Jackpot. LottoGo are the best known but are facing stiff competition from LottoMart, Jackpot.com, Unibet - to name just a few.

The line bet prices vary significantly between companies. E.g. Jackpot.com offer a standard line bet price on Irish Lotto of £3* at time of writing.

Some of the companies have welcome offers for new customers.

We have created a page especially for comparing online jackpot companies that offer the Irish Lottery here. We simply compare prices and rate the companies based on 8 categories.

All of the companies compared are fully regulated. For this guide we’re going to use Jackpot.com as an example as they’re #1 rated on our site.


Step 2: Register and Deposit with your chosen company

When you’ve decided which company you’re going to try first for Irish Lotto betting, you’ll need to:

  • Click through a link on our site
  • Complete registration and deposit

Registration and deposit can be done before or after number selections at Jackpot.com. Jackpot.com have the fantastic, time saving option of registering with your Google account. You may be entitled to a fantastic welcome offer and a promo


Step 3: Choose Your Numbers or Select a Quick Pick

Jackpot.com defaults to Quick Pick automatic number selection i.e. random numbers will be selected. However you can edit that and choose your own numbers if you want.

For the Irish Lotto, you have to select 6 numbers from 1 - 47 for each line.


Step 4: One Or Multiple Lines?

‘Lines’ are essentially selections of numbers. Jackpot.com defaults to 3 lines however you can easily delete 2 of those and just go with 1 line. If you want, you can choose up to 12 lines on each draw for the Irish Lotto.


Step 5: Choose Draws

Here you can select the draws you want to bet on. You can bet on the Main draws for the following 2 draw days if you wish i.e. Wednesday and Saturday or Saturday and Wednesday depending on the day you place your bet.


Step 6: Choose Duration/Number of Weeks

You need to choose how many weeks you want to bet with the same numbers. With Jackpot.com, you can bet anywhere from just 1 week up to 52 weeks of draws.

You can also choose a subscription option where you Choose to renew your bets automatically by checking the Subscription (Sub) box and how often using the dropdown box. For example, if you choose 4 weeks, your bets will renew every 4 weeks.

A JackpotHunt (Hunt) will renew your bets until the current jackpot is won. When the Jackpot is won, your jackpotHunt will end. You can opt out any time.

Bonus Step: Choose to Only Bet if the Jackpot is big enough for you

Jackpot.com offer a great filter option where you can choose for your bets to only be placed if the jackpot is a certain size.


Step 7: Choose whether to take part in the +1 and +2 draws

Every Wednesday and Saturday evening, after the main Irish Lotto draw there are the additional +1 and +2 draws. You need to decide whether you want to use the same numbers for these draws

At Jackpot.com for an extra £1 per draw you can choose to automatically bet on both games & could win up to £1.1m extra


Step 8: Confirm and Proceed

When you’re happy with all your choices, you can confirm and proceed with the bet. If you registered and deposited at the beginning of the process, then you’re good to go. If not, then you can do those 2 simple steps now.


Step 9: Check Results

Check out our Irish Lotto Results centre to see if you’ve won.

The Irish Lotto is drawn twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at 19:45pm (UK/Irish Time). (Normally you need to have your bets placed between 15-30 minutes before the draw takes place).

* Prices & Returns Disclaimer: The displayed prices are intended as a guide only and whilst we work hard to ensure they're up to date, they are subject to change from the operators. Prices correct as of 11/08/2019. These prices refer to normal bet line prices. Please always check prices on the betting operator site before placing any bets. Also please refer directly to Jackpot.com website for prize details and terms.

About Us

Comparethelotto.com was started in 2014 with the aim of finding lottery customers the best odds, offers and information.
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