Lotto Online - Irish style

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podgerodge

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Lotto Online - Irish style:

1) You can only register by sending a copy of your passport or driving license by post - which will probably put off about 95% of the playing public - thjs is blamed on "legal reasons"

2) When you do the above, as I have, you decide one night to have a flutter - but the 'Play online' part of the website CLOSES DOWN FOR THE NIGHT (I think from 10pm until the following morning) - God knows why.

3) So the next morning (though at this point you are wondering why you didn't just go to a shop and do it) you proceed to do your syndicates lotto - You enter the numbers for 8 lines and select to play for 8 draws - Lotto online correctly tells you that this will cost €96. You hit play but are told:

"This amount exceeds your daily maximum of €75".

Your blood pressure starts to rise. You go to account options - Eureka!!! There is an option to "Edit the maximum daily amount". But no, no - you can only edit it DOWNWARDS - Lotto will never let you spend more than €75 in one day!

4) You ring the National Lottery Customer Support Line:

Me: "Hi, I've filled out 8 lines on YOUR website and selected "8 draws". That's €96. But you won't let me spend more than €75. Surely if there is any limit it should be €96 (excl. lotto plus)?"

Lottery: " That seems a bit silly. Hold on and I'll check. ...........Ok I've checked - the limit of €75 was set by the regulator"

Me: "When this was being discussed with the regulator could you not have pointed out to them that this amount doesn't fit with your own 8 line template? Who is the Regulator for Lotto anyway?"

Lottery: "I don't know. Maybe the Department of Finance. I agree it sounds silly."

Me: "I might find out and email them. Don't suppose you know why you close down every night stopping people playing after 10pm?"

Lottery: "No, but I'd imagine it was the regulator".



So there you go. Postal identification, Website Closing Hours, Maximum limits that don't correspond to your corner shop, and a Regulator (which might well be Finance) that obviously thinks it knows how to save us from ourselves. (Maybe they think we might be drunk and gamble too much after 10pm!)

A brief look at the UK lottery website did not suggest any of the above stupidity.

Rant over.
 
And you can't play the Plus draw on the online Euromillions (although you can for the main draw) nor can you play Monday Millions on it
 
agree with all of the above. hopefully everthing mentioned will come with time. i think to get the ball rolling they started with a reduced site in terms of functions so as to iron out any teething issues.

I made a suggestion to them that instead of a "-" symbol to indicate a no win they use the term "no win". They said they would implement this and other suggestins from the public at the first round of fixes.

imo it is a good side and with time hopefullt it will get better.

do email them with your concerns so they have record of it.
 
I presume the no after 10pm is incase somebody goes nuts after a few pints and gambles too much and the 75 euro limit is to save us from ourselves too.
 
Well you can't buy lotto tickets in a shop after 10pm. So I assume this is the same sort of thing.
 
I think all these restrictions are fair enough. Gambling is a behaviour that needs to be regulated to counteract abuse... (in a similar fashion to alcohol consumption).

Anyone who wants to spend more than €75 on the Lotto probably doesn't realise how small the odds are of actually winning it. They could do with be being protected from themself. ;)
 
gianni said:
Anyone who wants to spend more than €75 on the Lotto probably doesn't realise how small the odds are of actually winning it. They could do with be being protected from themself. ;)
Click to expand...

podgerodge said:
you proceed to do your syndicates lotto
Click to expand...

It's not their job to protect us from ourselves. If you can go to a shop and spend more than €75 on Lotto you should be able to do the same on their website. And at the very least, make the limit equal to filling out their online form for 8 draws i.e €96 (plus whatever lotto plus costs)


gianni said:
Gambling is a behaviour that needs to be regulated to counteract abuse... (in a similar fashion to alcohol consumption).
Click to expand...


Alcohol consumption is not regulated. You don't go into a bar and get told "there's a maximum limit in place of 5 pints". Would you be in favour of something like that as well?



If you go to the UK Lottery website you will see that they simply verify your age by asking you to type in your date of birth.
Their terms and conditions state :"The Company reserves the right to require an Intending Player, to supply further documentation to verify the Intending Player's age or identity or to request an authentication agency to verify the Intending Player's identity."

Reserve the right - that's the way to do it.
 
Well I signed up, have played three times so far. But they never sent me my login details and after having not used it for a week I couldn't remember them, couldn't even remember my username to get my new password. Anyway, eventually remembered them but there isn't even a link from the main lotto.ie page to the interactive lotto page (unless i've missed it)!

Personally, I think it's just easier to go to the local shop and play it there ;)

Muffin
 
podgerodge said:
It's not their job to protect us from ourselves. If you can go to a shop and spend more than €75 on Lotto you should be able to do the same on their website. And at the very least, make the limit equal to filling out their online form for 8 draws i.e €96 (plus whatever lotto plus costs)





Alcohol consumption is not regulated. You don't go into a bar and get told "there's a maximum limit in place of 5 pints". Would you be in favour of something like that as well?
Click to expand...

You do get told that you can't buy alcohol under the age of 18, after certain times, if you are inebriated or in certain areas. All of these measures are designed to control the consumption of alcohol.
 
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