EuroMillions


EuroMillions is a transnational lottery that requires seven correct numbers to win the jackpot. It was launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on 13 February 2004 in Paris. Initially, only the UK, France and Spain participated, with the Austrian, Belgian, Irish, Luxembourgish, Portuguese and Swiss lotteries joining for the 8 October 2004 draw.
Drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday night at 20:45 CET in Paris. A standard EuroMillions ticket costs €2.50, £2.50 or CHF3.50 per line played, but this depends on the local currency.
Ireland has an exclusive option called Plus, which adds €1.00 per line. As of February 2014, a non-optional addition called "My Million" in France adds €0.50 per line, while in Portugal it is called "M1lhão" and represents €0.30 of the whole €2.50 bet.
The cost of playing in the UK increased from £1.50 to £2.00 per line on 7 November 2009, due to the EUR/GBP exchange rate and automatic entry into its [|Millionaire Raffle]. On 24 September 2016, the cost per line increased from £2.00 to £2.50 in the UK. On the same day, in Ireland and Spain it rose to €2.50 per line.
From 24 September 2016, the number of lucky stars changed from a pool of 11 to a pool of 12 numbers, decreasing the jackpot winning odds from 1:117million to 1:140million.
All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax-free and are paid as a lump sum.

Play

Draws take place at 20:45 every Tuesday and Friday in Paris. The results are published shortly after the draw on associated and independent websites around 23:00 hours.
To participate in the EuroMillions Lotto, tickets can be purchased from many outlets, namely at licensed stores and online websites.
The game play changed on Tuesday, 10 May 2011 with a second weekly draw and the number of "lucky stars" in the Paquerette machine increasing from 9 to 11. A prize for matching two main numbers and no lucky stars was also introduced on the same date.
On Saturday, 24 September 2016, the number of "lucky stars" increased again, from 11 to 12.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, EuroMillions sales have been temporarily suspended in Spain until further notice. Advance Play is also being gradually decreased due to the uncertainty of the virus outbreak and the effect that it is having across the nine participating countries. In all countries except Spain, it is still possible to play online, however the situation may change in the coming weeks.

Eligibility

The prize structure as of Tuesday, 4 February 2020 is as follows:
The Prize Guarantee Fund is available to contribute to the jackpot, for example, to boost the initial jackpot in a sequence of growing jackpots. The amount utilized each week is determined in advance by the participating lotteries.
Effective 7 November 2009 new rules were put in place regarding rollovers.
A new rule change of 12 January 2012 locks the Jackpot cap at €190,000,000 permanently and if the jackpot is not won after two draws, the prize money will be distributed among the winners at the next level. A new rule change of 24 September 2016 states that if the jackpot is not won five draws after it reaches €190,000,000, the prize money will be distributed among the winners at the next level. The minimum jackpot prize increased from fifteen million euros to seventeen million euros.
As of February 4, 2020, the rules regarding the EuroMillions jackpot are about to change. The new cap will be €200,000,000, but that will no longer be the largest amount that the first prize can reach. If the jackpot gets to this amount the cycle can last for five draws. If there are no winners in this 5th draw the jackpot is payedout in the lower tier. The jackpot stays fixed during this five final draws of the cycle. For the next cycle the maximum jackpot is set to €210,000,000. Then again the jackpot payout in the 5th final draw of this cycle. The jackpot stays fixed during this five final draws of the cycle. And so on....for the next cycles the maximum jackpot can reach 220,230,240 and maximum 250 million euros.

EuroMillions Trust

The participating national lotteries in the EuroMillions game have each established a EuroMillions Trust account. This is used for the settlement of all amounts due, and for holding amounts in respect of future prizes. This trust arrangement protects the participating lotteries between them from a default from one of the national companies, and ultimately the players' interests.

Super Draws and Event Draws

Super Draws and Event Draws are special drawings when the Jackpot is set to a guaranteed amount – often €100,000,000. The difference is that a Super Draw jackpot will roll over to the next drawing if not won, but an Event Draw jackpot will be distributed among the winners in the next lower tier. Until now, jackpots in a Super Draw have rolled over to the next drawing if not won.
The first Super Draw of 2011 took place on Tuesday 10 May to mark the introduction of the second weekly Euromillions draw and changes to the game format.
The first Super Draw of 2016 took place on Friday 30 September to introduce the change to the game format.
Event Draws have been held to date on
Super Draws have been held to date on
A €100,000,000 Super draw was planned for 6 June 2014 but was cancelled when the jackpot rolled over to €105,000,000.
This is a change to the game rules as of 4 April 2011 when the Event Draw was added.

Largest Jackpots

The first huge jackpot of over €115.4 million was won by Irish lady Dolores McNamara on 29 July 2005. On 3 February 2006, three winners shared the record jackpot of €183 million after the first rank was eleven draws vacant. Two French people and one Portuguese received €61,191,026 each. In order to limit the jackpot from growing higher, the rules of the game in the period from 2006 to 2009 stipulated that after the twelfth draw without a winner before the jackpot amount would be rolled down and shared between the winners in the next prize tier. This happened for the first time on 17 November 2006, after over €183 million had accumulated in the jackpot. The sum was shared between the winners of the second rank. The first highest jackpot with €190 million was won by the Bayford couple from England on 10 August 2012, and they received "only" £148.6 million because of the strength of the euro. The €185 million jackpot that was won by the Weir couple from Scotland on 12 July 2011 was considered to be the highest jackpot in the UK until Peter Wilson’s win on the 8 October 2019.
A jackpot of nearly €175.5 million was won by a family syndicate of 8 siblings who were from Naul in North County Dublin on 19 February 2019.
A jackpot of €190 million was won by a single ticket holder in the UK bearing the winning numbers - 7,10,15,44,49 and the lucky numbers 3,12.

Email scams making use of EuroMillions brand name

Chris and Colin Weir won the EuroMillions and pledged to donate their prize money to good causes. However, cybercriminals started using their names in their email scams to fool the general public and ultimately cheat them of money.

EuroMillions Plus (Ireland only)

In June 2007, with the success of the main EuroMillions game, the Irish National Lottery launched EuroMillions Plus. For an extra €1 per line, players could enter the additional draw with the top prize each week of €500,000. Sales of the main EuroMillions in Ireland for 2006 were over €145 million; this success led to the introduction of 'Plus'.

UK Millionaire Maker

Since November 2009 at least one UK player every week has won a guaranteed £1,000,000. With the introduction of the Tuesday EuroMillions Draw on Tuesday 10 May 2011 there were 2 Millionaire Raffle winners each week. Changes to Euromillions in September 2016 meant that two guaranteed Millionaire Raffle winners were made per draw, or 4 per week across the two draws.
According to the Euromillions website, the chances of winning the UK Millionaire Maker game on a Tuesday can be estimated as 1 in 1,900,000. This can shrink to 1 in 2,250,000 in the events of rollovers. On a Friday, it can be calculated as 1 in 2,950,000 but again the odds can fall to 1 in 3,400,000 in the events of a 4 times rollover. Winning in this game depends entirely on the number of the payslips sold so the odds fluctuate. The odds may also fluctuate during a super draw or a special event in the UK Millionaire Raffle.
Prices per line in the UK increased by 50p to £2.00. The 50p was added due to weak exchange rates between the pound and the euro and to cover the expense of the new Millionaire Maker.
On 24 September 2016 the price per line in the UK was increased by an additional 50p to £2.50.
In January 2019, the number of guaranteed winners in the UK Millionaire Maker game reverted to one.