The Irish Lotto returns tonight, 12 September 2026, with a jackpot estimated at €2.8m and a draw time of 8:00pm Irish time. Before the balls drop again, it's worth looking back at the last draw's winning numbers and lottery results to see what the statistics tell us — and what they don't.
On 9 September 2026, the winning numbers were 13, 16, 18, 31, 34, and 38, with a bonus ball of 29. As always with lottery predictions, no method can forecast the outcome of a random draw, but tracking different strategies over time gives us useful lottery statistics on how various number-picking approaches compare against each other in practice.
Across 54 tickets spread over nine strategies, the "outdated_pick" method came out on top for that draw, averaging 2.0 matched numbers with a best result of 3 matches across its six tickets. Close behind was "high_low_least," averaging 1.8 matches with the same best-case of 3. The remaining methods — including high_bias, balanced_sum, weighted, cold_pick, high_low_most, random, and delta — all trailed with averages between 0.2 and 0.8 matches. Interestingly, the cold_pick strategy, despite a modest 0.7 average, recorded six bonus ball hits, a detail that stands out statistically even though it didn't translate into higher jackpot-relevant matches.
It's important to stress that this is a single-draw snapshot, not evidence that any one lottery strategy has a genuine edge. Outdated_pick and high_low_least performing well this time is an observation worth noting for pattern-watchers, but with a random draw of six numbers from a much larger pool, short-term results like these are expected to fluctuate significantly from draw to draw. Over enough draws, all unweighted approaches should converge toward similar long-run averages, which is exactly why continuous tracking matters more than any single result.
Tonight's draw carries a jackpot of €2.8m, and as always, the odds of matching all six numbers remain long regardless of which method is used to select them. That said, for those who enjoy the analytical side of play, comparing strategies over time can be a genuinely interesting exercise, even if it comes with no guarantee of improved winning chances.
If you want to go beyond reading about it and see how your own number-picking approach stacks up draw after draw, you can build and monitor your own strategies at strategy-tracker.lawley.de, where every method — old or new — gets the same transparent, data-driven scrutiny.