Scheduled Play is a service now available to set up through the National Lottery Mobile Applications. It’s a free service so you pay the same price as you would if you bought your tickets from a National Lottery retailer.
Scheduled Play is an easy-to-use online tool Lottery players can use to control what games they play, when they play them and for how long.
Choose a game to play, select how long you want the schedule to last, how often you like to play, and you’re all set.
Play Schedules can be set for 3, 6 or 12 months, and can be cancelled or amended at any time.
You can play once or twice per week for the duration of your Play Schedule.
Once your Play Schedule is set up, ticket purchases for your chosen draws will happen automatically in the lead up to a draw. Ticket purchases will be funded from your online wallet or, if there are not enough funds in your online wallet, the payment card registered to your account.
The Play Schedule service is only available in our iOS/Android (mobile) apps
At present, Lotto and EuroMillions are available for Scheduled Play.
To create a Play Schedule, you will need the following:
ID verification is used to ensure that you’re fully eligible for a National Lottery account. Your email needs to be verified so that we have the correct email to send you updates such as successful purchases, potential failed purchases, or any actions you may need to take to ensure your schedules go ahead smoothly.
Go to the Scheduled Play screen on the mobile app and select which game you want to create a Play Schedule for. Set up your ticket details as you want them (shake, select numbers or quick picks, number of lines, add Plus games etc.). Once you’re happy with your ticket you must select the duration of your Play Schedule, and which weekly draws you will want to participate in. Review your Play Schedule to make sure everything is as you like it and you’re good to go!
Please note that, if you haven’t done so already you will be prompted to ID verify as well as verify your email address. You may also be prompted to authorise your payment card for automated payments.
You can also use a ticket you played previously to create a Play Schedule. Go to My Tickets and select which ticket you want to use. From the Ticket details screen, tap ‘Create Schedule from Ticket’. This will create a new Play Schedule, with that ticket’s details. From there you can set the rest of your Play Schedule.
You can only have one Play Schedule running for each available game (Lotto and EuroMillions) at any one time.
Play Schedules can be set for periods of 3, 6, or 12 months. For each game you can choose to participate in all weekly draws or choose a particular draw in the week if you prefer.
For Lotto, you can choose to play on Wednesday, Saturday or both.
For EuroMillions, you can choose to play on Tuesday, Friday or both.
Schedule Duration |
1 draw per week |
Both draws per week |
3 months |
13 draws |
26 draws |
6 months |
26 draws |
52 draws |
12 months |
52 draws |
104 draws |
When you set up a Play Schedule, it will only become active once the draw that is live at the time you set up your Play Schedule, has closed. Your first scheduled ticket will be purchased automatically the morning after.
For example:
If you set up a Lotto Play Schedule on a Monday, Wednesday’s draw will already be open, so no ticket will be purchased for that draw. After Wednesday’s draw is closed, the next draw (for Saturday) will open, then your schedule will activate and will purchase your ticket the morning after.
So, your first ticket will be purchased on Thursday morning for Saturday’s draw.
Example: Lotto Play Schedule
There is usually a lag of 10 mins for Lotto and 11 and a half hours for EuroMillions between when one draw closes and the next one opens. If you happen to set up a schedule during this time, the first ticket purchased will be for that next draw.
Once the ticket for the last draw on your Play Schedule has been purchased, the schedule will end, and automated purchases will stop. You will be notified of this beforehand and given the opportunity to renew/extend your Play Schedule should you want to do so.
If you decide to close your National Lottery account, or to self-exclude from play, any running Play Schedules will be automatically cancelled. Any tickets already purchased at the time of closure/self-exclusion will be included in their respective draws.
When taking payments for Scheduled Play we will try to use funds already in your online Wallet first. If the balance of your Wallet is not sufficient to cover the cost of the ticket, the cost will instead be charged to the payment card linked to your account.
Purchases for scheduled tickets are first attempted on the morning of the first full day of a draw cycle.
For example, say you have a schedule for EuroMillions, which draws are on Tuesday and Friday. The ticket for Fridays’ draws will be purchased on Wednesday mornings, after Tuesdays’ draws close.
|
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
Draws |
|
7.30pm |
Morning |
|
Morning |
If the purchase fails, for whatever reason, we will let you know of the failure by email and attempt to complete the purchase again on the morning of the day of the draw.
If the second purchase attempt fails, you will be notified by email, and no ticket will be purchased, meaning that you will not be entered in that draw.
Typically, where a ticket purchase fails for two consecutive draws, your schedule will be automatically cancelled.
The most likely reasons for which a purchase may fail are:
If your card has expired, you will need to update it otherwise you risk having scheduled ticket purchases fail and having your schedule cancelled.
Please note that when you change your card details, you will be prompted to authorise the new card for automated payments to service your play schedule. If this authorisation is not provided, we will not be able to service your schedule and will need to cancel it.
Bank charges may apply to Scheduled Play transactions according to your own bank’s fees.
We will need your authorisation to use your payment card to make purchases on your behalf to service your Play Schedules, when needed. Otherwise, we will not be able to service your schedules and will need to cancel any active schedules.
Please note that Play Schedules are intended as a tool to help automate your play. Once you set up a schedule the National Lottery will make its best effort to enter your tickets into each draw according to your settings. However, the existence of a Play Schedule does not in itself constitute an absolute guarantee of participation in all draws, as there are multiple factors that can affect the success or failure of a scheduled ticket purchase that are outside our control.
After setting up a schedule you can edit it at any point during daily ‘wagering hours’ (7am to 10pm), including the lines played, the duration, the days played, and selecting or de-selecting Plus.
Please note that any changes to your schedule will first apply to the ticket purchased for the next draw to open after you make the changes.
Please note that any changes to your schedule will first apply to the ticket purchased for the next draw to open after you make the changes.
There are 3 pre-set durations for play schedules, 3, 6 and 12 months. After setting up your schedule, you can edit your schedule to extend its duration. Duration can be extended up to a maximum of 12 months.
You can also edit your schedule to decrease its duration, for example from 12 to 6 months.
Please bear in mind that you can’t reduce the duration of your Play Schedule to a setting smaller than the time already elapsed. For example, if you’re 4 months into a 6 month play schedule, you won’t be able to reduce its duration to 3 months as that period will have already elapsed.
Once a Play Schedule has 28 days or less until expiry, it will become eligible for renewal. This can be done through the schedule management screen, where a ‘Renew Schedule’ prompt will be made available as soon as the schedule is eligible for renewal. You can renew the schedule for another period (3, 6 or 12 months).
You can cancel a schedule at any time.
Please note: After a draw takes place, your next ticket is lined up for purchase as soon as sales open for the next draw. If you cancel your schedule after this is lined up, you may still be included in the next draw. Your schedule will stop once that draw is finished.
The National Lottery will cancel your schedule if:
To ensure your schedule remains active, you will need to log in to your account at least once every 90 days. If you don’t do so, your account will be considered inactive, and your play schedule will be cancelled. We will let you know in advance by email before you reach 90 days.
Yes, any wagers on your account, including those within a schedule will count towards your spending limits.
If a scheduled purchase were to cause you to exceed your spend limits, then the purchase will fail, and you will be notified by email.
If this happens on both purchase attempts for a draw no ticket will be purchased, and you will not be entered into that draw and you will be notified by email.
Your Play Schedule will be cancelled immediately if you self-exclude from the National Lottery.
Any tickets already purchased at the time of self-exclusion will be included in their respective draws.
Any remaining balance will be returned to you by cheque.