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RTÉ News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Beat the Lotto - a wry look at the joy of six in 1990s Ireland
"Once you heard it, once you saw it, you were in..." One of the best stories from 1990s Ireland (or, indeed, anytime-you-like Ireland) gets a big-screen outing in this charmer of a documentary from director Ross Whitaker (Katie, Between Land and Sea, Unbreakable: The Mark Pollock Story). Back in 1992, a syndicate led by Cork-born accountant Stefan Klincewicz decided "to play every single lottery line" by purchasing "all the combinations of numbers". Even in the good old days of six numbers from 36, that was some logistical and financial ask - and the syndicate needed a rollover Lotto jackpot to clean up on the night. Months of planning came down to desperate hours as the draw neared. Could they do it? Well, even if you know how this caper ultimately played out, director Whitaker makes sure you're still watching his film with a newcomer's sense of anticipation. Beat the Lotto is funny, pacy, and blessed with a better pitch than most Hollywood movies can manage. How has it taken 30-plus years to get this escapade into Irish cinemas? Here, you have a portal to a different Ireland, one where the greeting "Good evening, Ronan" was the clarion call to get Saturday night well and truly under way. So much has changed, but one thing that's still the same is the yearning for "a bit of craic", mischievously hardwired into the Irish DNA and exemplified by the syndicate members who share their memories of taking on the establishment - definitely older, debatably wiser, and still game for a laugh after all these years. The footage of someone rocking up to a newsagent's with a crisps box full of £50s to buy heaps of Lotto tickets is so Guaranteed Irish that you may well feel a lump in your throat. Whitaker hurries the ending, and it's frustrating that there isn't more of an epilogue, because all the interviewees are such good company that you'd love to hear a bit more. That aside, this film, well, makes a balls of it in a lovely way.
RTÉ News
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Beat the Lotto coming to cinemas next month
Beat the Lotto, the award-winning documentary from director Ross Whitaker (Between Land and Sea, Katie), will be released in cinemas on Friday 4 July. The film "charts the true story that captivated Ireland in 1992; the syndicate helmed by mathematician Stefan Klincewicz and their attempt to cover close to two million combinations and guarantee a rollover Lotto jackpot win". Describing his film as "a reflection of Ireland in the 1990s", director Whitaker said: "We wanted to make a film that encouraged people to reflect on what side they take - are they in favour of the syndicate who are trying to beat the system, or the trusted national institution that was a very positive force in 1990s Ireland? "It was enjoyable to build the film to an exciting climax and for the audience to wonder who would win out in the end." Beat the Lotto received its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival in February 2025, winning the Best Irish Film award from the Dublin Film Critics' Circle.
