Irish lotto raises ticket price

"The €3 ticket price puts Ireland's lottery among the most expensive in Europe to play. Euromillions, whose jackpot will reach €150m this week, costs €2, while Britain's national lottery is £1 (€1.50). Italy charges a minimum of €3, as does Spain's El Gordo, whose annual Christmas lottery is the largest in the world.

"…The price hike is part of an overhaul of the twice-weekly lotto draw, which has been suffering declining sales. The national lottery has raised the minimum jackpot to €2m from €1.3m, after market research revealed players thought the payouts weren't big enough.

"The chances of winning the jackpot have decreased to one in more than 8m after the lotto matrix was extended from picking six numbers out of 42 to six from 45. Lottery organisers now expect that only one draw in four or five will produce a winner, and 20 times a year the jackpot will roll over to €5m. Once a year it should reach €10m…"