Just a Sister Site of the EuropeanLotteryGuild.com or Maybe More?
There are times when the KISS rule doesn’t work and clicking on irishjackpot.com is definitely one of them. Irishjackpot.com is a syndicate site owned and operated by the European Lottery Guild (ELG). It offers a buy in to one syndicate for the Irish Lottery and a bonus of a share in the Irish, German & Spanish lottery. Let’s talk.
Irish Lottery Special Edition Syndicate
At a cost of £8 every 4 weeks, players buy into a syndicate of 1 ticket for the Irish Lottery that takes place twice a week. I simply rolled my eyes at this one as the whole point of a syndicate is to increase your odds by owning more tickets. Okay – a player also gets to be part of the “Lucky 300” which is 100 sets of tickets for the Irish, Spanish and German lotteries, but –the big but – it doesn’t say how many people share in this and players only win if the syndicate has the winning jackpot ticket.
Irishjackpot.com’s Spin
ELG advertises this syndicate with ‘spin talk’ like a lottery prize pool worth £108,000,000 and written in smaller print is the fact this is the annual amount that is offered by the Irish Lottery. Add to this, members of the “Lucky 300” syndicate will get 2,400 extra chances of an ANNUAL jackpot of £30,500,000. They can’t even get their figures straight on their own site as reading down through their home page they refer to the ‘Lucky 300’ syndicate as a chance to win £37 Million each year.
I also love (ya right) how they use a comparison between the UK National Lotto and Irish Lotto to come up with a percentage of 42% fewer potential number combinations saying it is easier to win the jackpot. I mean we’re not all mathematicians, but you don’t have to be to get the ad gimmick here.
Winning at Irishjackpot.com
Okay, I do have to give that ELG does pay out. BBC’s article in 2005, did cover the fact Bill Potter claimed his winnings (in Vancouver) from the Spanish lottery for £12 million was bought through ELG. Irishjackpot.com says that they will credit anything under €10 to your ELG account and are available on request. Wins over €10 will be sent to you automatically [by check?] after it is converted to your indicated currency. They do offer this without any service charges or processing fees.
Who Can Play Irishjackpot.com
Funny that it’s not who can play but who can’t play. Residents of “some countries” can’t and that includes Ireland, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, the United States and its territories, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Customer Service
Though Irishjackpot.com is operated by ELG (which is registered in the Netherlands), their live chat is operated from Vancouver, Canada and open 6 a.m. to midnight Pacific Standard Time. They offer a snail mail address in the Netherlands but a Vancouver telephone number which will accept reverse charges. Click on “Contact us” and this immediately open up your email program which sets off my alarm bell.
Irishjackpot.com Complaints
Our team didn’t find any complaints specifically about irishjackpot.com but we didn’t have to look very hard for the latest complaints on ELG! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many complaints on a lottery service provider and they specifically reference ELG’s use of a combo Irish/Spanish/German syndicate. If you want more info on ELG check out our article.
The Bottom Line at Irishjackpot.com
Buying into a syndicate that gives me 1 chance to win twice a week is simply silly. The bonus tickets offered in the syndicate are even sillier as they only payout if they nail the big jackpot plus there is no information on how many people I’m going to have to share it with.
Pros:
ELG does pay – well it did in 2005
No service charges for winning
Live Chat
Cons:
Questionable Odds
Complaints! Complaints! Complaints!
Playing with Spin Artists
Irishjackpot.com gets a define thumbs down. There are a lot of lottery service providers who offer great syndicates and are clear how many you are going to share it with.