Ad Disclaimer!
BMC is an affiliation website. We help you find gambling sites where you can play with real money.
Many or all of the products and brands featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence how the product or brand appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own.
The information on this page, including operator and game details, is updated regularly but subject to change.
Thanks to online gambling, we have access to lotto games from all around the world. None are more popular than the Betfred Irish Lottery. Although you may have friends and family tell you they regularly play the Irish, it’s surprising the number of people who don’t know anything about it.
Thankfully, we’re here to answer all the questions you may have about the Irish lottery from Betfred. From a full rundown of the rules, lotto odds and where you can find the results. You may think a bookmaker is an odd place to play lottery online, but if you keep reading, then all will be explained.
What is the Irish Lottery?
Just like with our Lotto, the Irish National Lottery actually goes back decades. The principle is also the same as our game with numbered balls being drawn at random and predicting what those numbers will be. Premier Lotteries currently operate the Irish, after €405m for a 20 year licence
The Irish Lottery also has two televised draws every week, where six numbers and a bonus ball are drawn from a machine. Players who match all six numbers win the jackpot, or a share of it if there are multiple winners. So far the biggest jackpot was €18.9 million, which was won by a lucky player 2008.
Sadly with betfred’s Irish Lottery, you can’t win those amounts or anything even close, and here’s why. Playing lottery games with bookmakers is actually classed as a game of chance and not a pooled lottery.
Instead of winning a share of the pool for correctly predicting a set number of balls, you are actually betting on certain numbers being drawn at a fixed odds amount. This is actually called lottery betting, but it still pays out based on the correct prediction of 1 to 5 numbers.
Betfred Irish Lottery Rules
Now you know that when you play at Betfred, it’s separate from the actual Irish Lottery, you may be wondering if the rules of the games are same. Although it is fairly simple to do, if you are not used to lottery betting at bookmakers then you may be unsure about getting going.
If you are familiar with lottery games then Betfred have kept things similar and just as simple for you. Where the Lotto has 59 balls to choose from, the Irish has 47. All that is required is for you to pick 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 numbers from the 47 for your line. The Irish National Lottery has a minimum of 2 lines per purchase, but that isn’t required at Betfred.
As you would expect, the more numbers you select, the more the odds of your bet iand potential win increase.
The next thing that needs to be done is to decide which of the Betfred Irish Lottery draws you want to enter. By this we don’t mean the Saturday or Wednesday draw. Betfred actually offer two options, a 6 number draw or 7 number draw, and each one has differing connotations.
The difference between the two lotto bets is simply the bonus ball, a six ball bet doesn’t include the bonus ball and the 7 ball does. Adding the bonus ball may come with more chances to win, but that does come at a cost.
When playing the bonus ball on the Irish Lottery Betfred will reduce your winning odds, even if your winning numbers are within the 6 main balls. If for any reason you can’t decide on which five numbers to pick, you can opt for a Betfred Irish Lottery lucky dip.
Why Play the Irish Lottery at Betfred
As lottery betting is growing in popularity, sites like Betfred are now offering this option alongside other products like sports betting, poker, baccarat and scratch cards. But if you like lottery betting then Betfred offer various other options such as Betfred 49s, Nifty Fifty and Spanish lottery game.
Just like with Euro millions and lotto, Betfred Irish lottery tickets can cover the same bet for multiple draws and weeks at once, as well as just a single draw. Where the minimum ticket price for the actual draw is €2, Betfred Irish players must stake at least £0.05 on each line, while there is a minimum total stake of just £0.50 for each bet.
Where the Betfred Irish Lotto stands out, is the fact there is also the option to place different bets. You can place bets like a Trixie of luck 15 on the Irish, as well as other multiples. Special bets are also available, such as all the balls being high or low numbers or the bonus ball will be odd or even.
Betfred Irish Lottery Odds
As we mentioned above, the Irish lottery odds at Betfred are calculated differently than if you were buying an actual lottery ticket. This due to it being a fixed odds game and not a prize pool. While the odds or winnings may not be as big, they are certainly still substantial.
Just like with an accumulator or a spin on the slots, the winnings will be a set multiple of your stake, but those will change depending on whether you play the 6 ball or 7 ball game. For example, if you correctly match four numbers in the six ball, you will win £8501.
Whereas if you match the same numbers on the 7 ball, you will win £4001. These winnings are based on the Betfred Irish Lottery odds table below, but these can change, especially if you are betting with a different bookmaker.
| 1 Number | 2 Numbers | 3 Numbers | 4 Numbers | 5 Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/1 | 60/1 | 700/1 | 8500/1 | 150,000/1 |
| 1 Number | 2 Numbers | 3 Numbers | 4 Numbers | 5 Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5/1 | 45/1 | 375/1 | 4000/1 | 45,000/1 |
The Irish lottery at Betfred still offers a better opportunity of winning, with a 1 in 42 chance of a winning line. The jackpot has odds of 1 in 8,145,060, which is actually 40% better than the National Lottery.
How To Find Betfred Irish Lottery Results
Sometimes we can be eager to find out if we have won or not, so what are the best ways to find Betfred Irish lottery results?
There are actually a few ways to find out the results of the Irish lottery results, regardless as to who you have bet with or which draw you have bet on.
If you want to watch the results as they come out of the machine, the Irish National Lottery is broadcast on RTE every Wednesday and Saturday at 8pm. Additionally, they are also announced shortly after the draw on the official lotto social media accounts.
Most people tend to check the result later in the evening or the next day, they can do this by logging in to their betfred lotto account and visiting the Irish lottery page. If it’s been a while since they last checked, then previous draw results are also available. Of course if you were to check your account balance, you have an instant answer to if you have won.
Play at Other Betting Sites
As you have probably guessed by now, as we eluded to it earlier, the Irish Lottery is not exclusive to Betfred. There are several other betting sites that offer the Irish. Of those that do, we highly recommend trying William Hill, if you have to stray from Betfred.
Not only do they have the Irish and other lottery products, but they also offer some of the variety of betting markets and casino games. New customers can also benefit from a generous welcome bonus when they sign up.
Irish Lottery Betfred Summary
With the popularity of the Irish lottery growing every year, now is as good a time as any to jump on board the bandwagon. Although other bookmakers offer it, we definitely recommend placing your Irish lottery bets with Betfred. They offer more and better betting options than the competition and also have the draw results almost immediately. If you don’t yet have a Betfred account, then you can open one when you click here.