Players win over €436.6 Million in 2018!
The National Lottery created a whopping 23 new millionaires in 2018, paying out an incredible €436 million in prizes to its players during the year, it was revealed today.
Figures show that more than 57 cent in every Euro spent on National Lottery games went back to players – the highest percentage payout since the National Lottery was established 31 years ago. Under the terms of its licence, the National Lottery is required to pay a minimum of 50 cent in every Euro in prizes.
The biggest prize paid out in 2018 was a life-changing €17 million EuroMillions jackpot which was won by the lucky Stakelums Hardware syndicate in Thurles, Co. Tipperary.
And the highest Lotto jackpot win of the year was €8,549,067 won by a Galway based syndicate with a ticket bought at the Corrib Oil Service Station in Loughrea, Co. Galway.
The National Lottery analysis of winners reveals that Dublin again came out on top as Ireland’s luckiest National Lottery county in 2018, with almost €30 million paid out to players in 49 top tier wins in EuroMillions, Lotto, Daily Millions and Telly Bingo.
The second luckiest county was Co. Tipperary which saw players scoop a total of €19,537,541 in ten big wins, while Cork emerged as the third luckiest county with more than €19.1 million won in 19 top tier wins. (see table below)
The figures also show a record year for scratch card wins with €161.6 million won in 2018 by lucky players.
And another millionaire is guaranteed this Monday night through the popular Christmas Millionaire Raffle draw which takes place at 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. As well as a guaranteed top prize of one million euros there are an additional 5,567 more super prizes ranging from €250,000 to €500.
Chief Executive of the National Lottery, Dermot Griffin, said today: “2018 has been an incredible year for our players who won a total of €436.6 million in prizes across all of our games. It has been a record year for prize pay-outs with 57c in every €1 spent on National Lottery games being returned directly to the players in prizes. So far this year, we have made 23 brand new millionaires in Ireland, it has been great meeting so many of these big winners, and witnessing them enjoy the start of their life-changing wins.”
“We look forward to creating yet another millionaire through our Christmas Millionaire Raffle which takes place on New Year’s Eve. A limited number of tickets are still on sale in-store or on lottery.ie.”
Mr Griffin added: “We are especially proud that thanks to the support we have received from our players for all our games that we raised over €227 million in Good Causes this year, or more than €620,000 a day. This money is supporting communities and projects all over Ireland in the areas of health, sport, welfare, arts and culture.”
Figures released by the National Lottery show that:
- Total won on National Lottery prizes in 2018 is over €436.6m
- Total prize money paid on scratch cards this year is over €161.6 million
- There was one winner of the EuroMillions jackpot in 2018, bringing to 13 the number of winners in Ireland since EuroMillions launched in 2004.
- There were 28 winners of the EuroMillions Plus top prize of €500,000 in Ireland.
- There were 13 Lotto jackpot winners so far sharing €67.7 million in jackpot prizes.
Ireland’s Top five luckiest National Lottery counties 2018 (Figures as of 20thDecember 2018)
County |
Total Top Tier Wins in Draw based games (EuroMillions, Lotto, Daily Millions, Telly Bingo) |
Total amount won |
Dublin |
49 |
€29,902,831 |
Tipperary |
10 |
€19,537,541 |
Cork |
19 |
€19,100,867 |
Galway |
13 |
€15,646,192 |
Limerick |
10 |
€8,740,367 |
Donegal |
8 |
€6,143224 |
Meath |
2 |
€4,787,443 |
Cavan |
4 |
€3,514,586 |
Wexford |
6 |
€3,277,450 |
Waterford |
8 |
€2,927,396 |
Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on all National Lottery games go back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, community, arts, heritage and the Irish language. In total more than €5.3 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 30 years ago.
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