Lottery Q&A: What are my odds and does it matter where I buy a ticket?
The shop that sold this week's winning EuroMillions ticket has been announced, has it?
It has indeed.
Clifford's Centra
on Shandon Street in
Cork
City supplied the record-breaking €250 million ticket.
Good for them. Do they get a big windfall too?
Well, big is relative, isn't it? A shop that sells a winning ticket does indeed get a cash bonus from the National
Lottery
, with the amount depending on the nature of the winning ticket. A place that sells a winning Lotto ticket gets €15,000, falling to three grand if they sell a Lotto Plus 1 and €2,000 if they sell a Lotto Plus 2 ticket.
Yeah, but they must really hit pay dirt if they sell a €250 million winner, right?
Meh. The size of the cash sum given to shops for any particular lottery is the same no matter the jackpot. For selling a winning EuroMillions ticket, the Shandon Street Centra will collect €25,000. It is not to be sniffed at for sure but it is 0.01 per cent of the jackpot. What makes some of the prizes even less lavish than they first appear is that they have to be shared among shops if there is more than one winner.
What do you mean?
Well, it doesn't apply in this case, as there was just one winning ticket sold, but if a Lotto or EuroMillions jackpot is shard among two or more ticket holders, then the resulting cash the shops get must also be shared.
READ MORE
Still, better than nothing. Now, enough about the shops, let's get back to me. I didn't win the EuroMillions but is that because I bought my ticket in the wrong shop?
Well, it is worth noting that the odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are 140 million to one against, which means you are far more likely to be struck by lightning several times. Mind you, the odds of you being born and able to read this sentence were around four trillion to one and yet that happened. But to get back to your question, the odds stay the same no matter where you buy your ticket although, there do appear to be some shops that are luckier than others.
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Graham Norton's pad and a trip to space: what else could Ireland's newest EuroMillions winner buy with €250m?
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I'm all ears ...
Okay, so, there are quite a few shops in line for the title of the luckiest in Ireland. One of the top contenders is Carey's newsagents in Belmullet, Co Mayo. At the end of 2024 it sold the winning ticket for a jackpot worth just under €5.4 million. Back in 2017, one of its customers won €370,000, while in the same year another person – well, we have to hope they were different people – won €1 million in the Daily Million drawn. A year earlier it sold a jackpot-winning ticket worth
just under €14 million
while in 2015, a customer won the EuroMillions Plus top prize of €500,000. Then there was the €350,000 Lotto Plus 1 ticket it sold in 2012 and another jackpot-winning ticket worth €710,000 in 1991.
That must be the luckiest shop in Ireland so?
It depends on how you do your calculations. In 2005 the GO Stores in Garryowen, Limerick sold a EuroMillions quick pick to
Dolores McNamara
and she won €115 million.
Ah, but that was a one-off, right?
Actually no. In April 2024, the very same shop sold a winning ticket worth just under €9 million.
Are there any other contenders?
There are of course. There is the SuperValu in Bailieborough, which has sold three jackpot-winning tickets worth a total of almost €12 million. Wallaces in the Wexford town of Wellingtonbridge has also sold three tickets, with the cash value of its biggest prizes coming in at about €5 million.
And while 13 might be an unlucky number for some, 2013 was a very lucky year for the Tesco in Mullingar, which sold not one but two jackpot-winning tickets worth a total of more than €11 million.
That's a lot of lucky shops
And there are more. The Centra in Ballybrack might also stake a claim, having sold a €86.7 million jackpot-winning ticket in 2014, while in 2016 a syndicate of friends won more than €66 million after buying a ticket in the Eason's store in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow.
Eason's in Thurles also sold a €17 million jackpot-winning ticket in 2018.
And what about online?
It hasn't done great in the EuroMillions stakes so far, with only one winner, who recorded a €49.5 million haul in 2020.
So, tell me this, am I better off buying a ticket in a shop that has sold loads of jackpot-winning tickets or one that has never sold any? If the odds of selling one ticket are long, the odds of selling two or three or four must be immeasurably longer?
Honestly, it doesn't make the slightest difference. Your odds of winning the EuroMillions will remain at, as we said, 140 million to one no matter where you buy your ticket. The odds of winning the regular Lotto are almost 11 million to one and no amount of superstition or lucky numbers is going to change that fact.
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The Irish Sun
an hour ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Convinced it was wind-up' says Cork shop boss who sold €250m EuroMillions ticket as winner ID frenzy hits fever pitch
THE record-breaking €250m winning EuroMillions ticket was sold at Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street in Cork, as the manager admitted: "I was convinced it was a wind-up." Crowds gathered outside Clifford's, which has been open since 1930, as the green 5 Clifford's Centra celebrated selling Ireland's biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot ticket Credit: Mac Innes Photography 5 Celebrations were in full swing at Clifford's Centra Credit: Pic Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision Excited store manager Simon Champ somehow managed to drop one of the bottles on the pavement, spraying the drink everywhere to great amusement. But no one had any idea who the lucky Irish Lottery Manager, Cian Murphy, said: 'A win of this size is life-changing. 'It is a celebration for the Lottery, the shop, the community and the winner. It is fantastic as it makes someone's dream come true'. READ MORE ON LOTTO NEWS But he said if winners do not want their identities revealed, the Lottery ensures that the name does not get out into the public arena. He said they were unable to contact the owner Ted Clifford to inform him his Centra store had sold the winning ticket, but they did tell the store manager Simon Champ, who initially reacted with disbelief. Once convinced by the caller that it was true he was delighted. Long-time customer Noreen Kenny, who lives across the road from the store, said she was thrilled for everyone. Most read in Money She has been shopping since she was a small child and revealed this was the third generation member to run the store. The 76-year-old beamed: 'I am so delighted for them, Ted is such a dote. Penneys 'Lotto Lovelies' collect huge cheque at National Lottery HQ "He is lovely as are all his staff who just can't do enough to help customers. 'If you have heavy things they get the young fellas to bring them over for you. "Or people getting their packs of coal are helped home with it. 'The shop is well worth supporting. It has been here for donkey's years.' Noreen said that she posed in a press photo with staff as champagne corks were popping. She laughed and said: 'If any one sees me on the telly they will think I won it. "I did the Lotto and won €5 and I've just done it now for Friday. 'I do hope the winner is someone that needs it. I hope they will help the homeless with it.' 'TOO MUCH' One of the longest serving staff members is Anne O'Sullivan, who has been at Clifford's for over 26 years, and said she hopes a syndicate has won the millions as the amount is too much money for one person. She explained: 'It's fantastic and if it is a local person that's great but if it's a syndicate and the money is shared it would change many people's lives. 'In any case I hope it is someone we know who needs it. 'We open at 6am every morning. There is a lot of people coming from working and going to work who do the lottery. It could be a syndicate. We don't know.' COMMUNITY BUZZ Manager at Clifford's, Simon Champ, said: 'The reaction to the big win at the shop has been 'nuts.' 'The community here is beeping their horns. They are waving at us. There is so much excitement around the community. It is great. 'We have had business owners up and down the street coming over and congratulating us and shaking our hands. 'We have had customers congratulating us. It is great. Shandon Street is part of the city centre but there is a real community around here as well. 'It is a wonderful part of Simon said they have no idea as to the identity of the winner or even when the winning ticket was sold. He added: 'I have no clue. I know it wasn't me anyway. "I got a call on the way home from work yesterday to say that we had sold the winning ticket. It was late yesterday when I found out about it. 'I was convinced it was a wind-up but then they sounded pretty certain. 'Today is about the excitement. We are obviously delighted for the person who won it. "And we just want to enjoy the moment with our customers and our staff.' Over 30 people are employed at the store and plans are underway to have a big celebration in the coming weeks. Irish EuroMillions jackpot winners HERE's all the Irish EuroMillions jackpot winners to date. 1. July 2005: Dolores McNamara from Limerick, was Ireland's first and biggest EuroMillions winner scooping over €115 million. 2. July 2008: A lucky player from Co. Tipperary won a €15 million jackpot with a ticket bought in Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary. 3. June 2009: A family syndicate shared the jackpot with a British winner, taking home over €29.4 million with a ticket they purchased in Dublin. 4. June 2013: A winning ticket sold in Beaumount, Dublin, shared a EuroMillions jackpot worth over €187 million. A Dublin player earned half of the jackpot and picked up over €93 million. 5. September 2013: A young man from the South East shared a jackpot of over €25 million with a player in Spain, taking home over €12.8 million. 6. April 2014: A jackpot prize worth €15 million was claimed on a ticket sold in Castlebar, Co Mayo. 7. September 2014: An €86.7 million jackpot was won by a syndicate from Dublin. The ticket was sold in Centra, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin. 8. January 2016: A syndicate of friends won over €66 million, splitting the jackpot of €132,376,632. The ticket was sold in Eason's store, Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Carlow. 9. July 2016: 22 colleagues from Dublin Bus won the €23.8 million. The ticket was sold in O'Hanlon's Portarlington. 10. January 2017: A Dublin work syndicate claimed the €88.5 million EuroMillions jackpot. The winning ticket was sold at the Applegreen Service Station on the M1 Northbound in Lusk, Co Dublin. 11. July 2017: A syndicate from the West of Ireland won a €29 million EuroMillions jackpot. The ticket was sold in Garryduff XL Store on Pound Road, Castlebar in Co Mayo. 12. December 2017: A small family syndicate from Dublin won €38.9 million on a ticket purchased in The Village Shop in Malahide Shopping Centre. 13. June 2018: 32 colleagues from Stakelums Hardware store in Thurles share a €17 million EuroMillions jackpot with a ticket they purchased at Eason's Store in Thurles Shopping Centre in Co. Tipperary. 14. February 2019: The Naul Family Syndicate won €175.4 million on a ticket sold in Reilly's Daybreak in Naul, Co Dublin. 15. February 2020: A Co Mayo family shared the €17 million jackpot with a ticket they purchased at Mulroy's Londis Store in Castlebar. 16. July 2020: An online player in Dublin won a €49.5 million jackpot which they won with a €2.50 normal play ticket. 17. February 2022: Mid-West ticket holder scoops €30.9 million jackpot with Quick Pick ticket they purchased at Larkin's Gala Service Station in Ballina, Co Tipperary. 5 Centra Store Manager Simon Champ Credit: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision 5 The shop is located at 91 Shandon Street Credit: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provisio 5 Over 30 people are working in the shop Credit: Mac Innes Photography
Extra.ie
2 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Celebrations underway as Cork Centra react to selling €250million EuroMillions ticket
Celebrations are underway for the Cork Centra that sold the mind-boggling €250million EuroMillions ticket. The life-changing sum, the biggest jackpot in the history of the competition, was sold in Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street in Cork City Centre on the Tuesday draw (June 17). Celebrations kicked off at the store on Friday afternoon, with store owner Ted Clifford saying that they were surprised to sell a winning ticket just months after they sold a Millionaire's Raffle ticket, which was worth a massive €100,000. Celebrations are underway for the Cork Centra that sold the mind-boggling €250million EuroMillions ticket. Pic: Mac Innes Photography 'This is just fantastic news, it is hard to believe it,' Mr Clifford said. 'We are delighted to have sold this golden ticket to one of our customers. We already sold a winning Millionaire Raffle ticket on New Year's Eve just gone, worth €100,000, so that must have been the start of our winning streak. 'On behalf of our Centra team, it's an honour to be part of this historic moment. We are here on Shandon Street for 95 years and am so proud to be the 3rd generation owner of Clifford's. We send our warmest congratulations to the winner and their family.' Cian Murphy, CEO of the National Lottery, also celebrated the massive win, saying that this has been a historic moment for both the lotto and country Shane Kenny (right), National Lottery, alongside store manager Simon and the team at Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street in Cork city centre. Pic: Mac Innes Photography 'We are delighted to announce Clifford's Centra as the location to have sold the €250 Million EuroMillions winning ticket,' Mr Murphy said. 'This is a truly historic moment for the National Lottery and for the country. 'Not only does it mark the 18th EuroMillions jackpot win in Ireland, but also Ireland's biggest ever Jackpot win. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winner and our sincere thanks to Ted, Simon and all at Clifford's Centra for being part of this unforgettable milestone.' The winner of the life changing sum has contacted the National Lottery to make arrangements to collect their prize, but there's no word on who they are just yet.
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