EuroMillions

The EuroMillions was one of the very first multi-national lotteries in the world, the second in fact behind the ever-popular Viking Lotto. With a capped jackpot of up to €190 million on offer and a guaranteed jackpot of at least €17 million, it is easy to see why this is one of the most popular lotteries around.

While that capped jackpot is not as high as uncapped jackpots from the likes of the PowerBall and MegaMillions in the USA, the odds of winning a prize and the odds of winning the jackpot in the EuroMillions is much greater.

Also, the EuroMillions stands out due to the winnings being completely tax-free apart from in the member states of Spain, Switzerland and Portugal.

While the EuroMillions was initially only available to residents of the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Switzerland, Andorra, Isle of Man, Lichenstein and Monaco it can now be played online by anyone from any country.

On top of this is the fact that the EuroMillions always pays out in a lump sum and there will be no amount taken out such as there is in many other lotteries.

If you like what you have heard so far and are interested in finding out more about one of the oldest multi-national lotteries, keep on reading as we have all of the information that you need.

Some History of the EuroMillions Lottery

The EuroMillions became the second transnational lottery when it launched back in 2004. It was created through a partnership of both Camelot, the UK’s leading lottery provider and Frances equivalent, Francaise des Jeux.

In the beginning, it was just the UK, France and Spain that participated in the EuroMillions but this soon changed as Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Luxembourg would start participating just six months later.

Over the years there have been stories of some mega-winners being created by the EuroMillions and with sums that can reach close to €200 million for the jackpot, these are not just millionaires that are created but multi-millionaires that will never have to worry about money again.

Even the secondary prizes offer some life-changing money and will no doubt be welcome should you ever get fortunate enough to win them.

How to Play the EuroMillions Lottery

Playing the EuroMillions is much like playing most other lotteries, it involves you having to pick a certain amount of numbers from two different pools of numbers. You first choose five main numbers from between 1 and 50 and then you have to choose 2 lucky star numbers from between 1 and 12.

Tickets for the EuroMillions cost €2.50, £2.50 or CHF3.50 depending on where the ticket was bought and they are active for one lottery draw at a time.

Once you have made your selection you can just sit back and relax until the draw is made. The main numbers will be drawn first followed by the two lucky star numbers afterwards. There are two EuroMillions draws each week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 8.45pm CET and these are hosted live from Paris. 

If you have managed to match enough numbers for a win, you then have to go about claiming your prize.

If there are no winners of the jackpot, that jackpot will be rolled over to the next draw unless the total jackpot has reached the cap of €190 million. Furthermore, a new rule which was introduced in 2016 has made it so that if any jackpot has not been won after five draws, that jackpot will be spread among the other winning tickets on the level below the jackpot level.

How Much Can Be Won?

There is plenty of money that can be won on the EuroMillions Lottery as you would expect from most multi-national lotteries. In fact, there is a guaranteed jackpot of €17 million but this amount is always exceeded and with the possibility of the jackpot being rolled over, this jackpot can get as high as the capped amount of €190 million. When converted to dollars, that is an extremely substantial amount of $233 million.

We will show you examples of when that cap has been met and where winners have scooped this amount a little later.

The EuroMillions pays out in a different way to that of other big lotteries such as the PowerBall and MegaMillions as well, as it does not have fixed amounts for the non-jackpot payouts. Instead, these amounts will grow alongside the jackpot.

• Matching two main numbers will earn you an equal share of 18.25% of the prize fund (estimated at €4)

• Matching two main numbers and one lucky star will earn you an equal share of 14.85% of the prize fund (estimated at €8)

• Matching one main number and two lucky stars will earn you an equal share of 4.95% of the prize fund (estimated at €10)

• Matching three main numbers will earn you an equal share of 3.50% of the prize fund (estimated at €12)

• Matching three main numbers and one lucky star will earn you an equal share of 1.85% of the prize fund (estimated at €14)

• Matching two main numbers and two lucky stars will earn you an equal share of 1.75% of the prize fund (estimated at €19)

• Matching four main numbers will earn you an equal share of 0.38% of the prize fund (estimated at €58)

• Matching three main numbers and two lucky stars will earn you an equal share of 0.67% of the prize fund (estimated at €104)

• Matching four main numbers and one lucky star will earn you an equal share of 0.48% of the prize fund (estimated at €164)

• Matching four main numbers and two lucky stars  will earn you an equal share of 0.45% of the prize fund (estimated at €3,076)

• Matching five main numbers will earn you an equal share of 0.92% of the prize fund (estimated at €31,448)

• Matching five main numbers and one lucky star will earn you an equal share of 3.95% of the prize fund (estimated at €303,798)

• Matching five main numbers and two lucky stars will earn you an equal share of 43.2% of the prize fund (the jackpot)

We will take you through the odds of winning these amounts a little later in the review but you have to admit that there are some very impressive payouts to be had from the EuroMillions.

Previous Notable Jackpots

The capped jackpot of €190 million has been won three times in total with the most recent of these coming in October 2017. This was won by a ticket holder in Jinamar in Spain and the winner decided to keep their anonymity.

As for the other two times, these were won in October 2014 and August 2012 with the winners coming from Portugal and the UK respectively.

There has also been a number of wins that were very close to the cap amount with wins of €187,937,614, €183,573,078 and €183, 109,057 being recorded in 2013, and two in 2006 respectively.

A little further back is wins such as the €169,837,010 that was won by a single French ticket holder back in November 2012 and the €162,256,622 that was won by another French ticket holder back in 2011.

As you can tell, there has been a number of impressive wins over the years and those we have shown are just some of those that are over €150 million. There are much more just below that and further down below €100 million.

What are the Chances of Winning?

This is where the EuroMillions stands out against most of the other major lotteries as although it cannot quite compete with the pure size of the jackpots with some of the others, it offers players better odds at winning the jackpot and all other prizes.

Overall there is a 1 in 13 chance of winning some kind of prize from the EuroMillions which is much lower than the 1 in 24 that the US PowerBall offers players. This is mainly down to the lower payouts but when you consider that you can still earn yourself some huge payouts, it would be better to have a higher chance of winning.

As for the odds of winning the jackpot and each particular prize, these are as follows:

• Players have odds of 1 in 139,838,160 of winning the jackpot.

• Players have odds of 1 in 6,991,908 of winning the second-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 3,107,515 of winning the third-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 621,503 of winning the fourth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 31,075 of winning the fifth- tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 14,125 of winning the sixth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 13,811 of winning the seventh-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 985 of winning the eighth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 706 of winning the ninth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 314 of winning the tenth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 188 of winning the eleventh-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 49 of winning the twelfth-tier prize.

• Players have odds of 1 in 22 of winning the thirteenth-tier prize.

Using the jackpot odds of 1 in 139,838,160 that are available for winning the jackpot as an example, when compared to the 1 in 292,201,338 and 1 in 258,890,850 offered by the PowerBall and MegaMillions respectively, you can see that there is a far greater chance of winning the EuroMillions.

Who Can Play the EuroMillions Lottery?

Previously it was only residents of the European countries we mentioned at the top of this review that could take part in the EuroMillions but now any player worldwide can play by purchasing their tickets online.

There is numerous accredited lottery ticket sales companies that are fully authorized to offer these tickets for sale. This means that even if you are based outside of Europe or from a country that is not a member of this lottery, you can still have a chance at winning the monstrous jackpots that the EuroMillions regularly creates.

Through these outlets, it is quick and easy to purchase your tickets and even easier to keep up to date with the latest draw results. All you have to do is remember the date of the draw and go back and check on the day to see if you have won.

As long as you meet minimum age restrictions that are in the member country that you are buying from which is 18 for most and 16 in the United Kingdom, you are free to purchase and win from the EuroMillions lottery.

How is the Jackpot Paid?

In other lotteries such as the PowerBall and MegaMillions, players are given the choice of getting a reduced amount of the jackpot in a lump cash payment or the full amount if they opt for 30 years of annual payments.

That is quite a decision to make as you might expect. In some cases, you can lose almost half of what you have due to wanting the money upfront. At the same time, do you really want to risk not getting your full amount across 30 years due to not living long enough?

Thankfully this is not a concern that you will have to have with the EuroMillions!

There is no decision required for winners of the EuroMillions however, as all winners are given a lump sum payout that is the full amount that they have won. Also, only three member countries charge winners tax with the remaining countries charging no tax at all. 

Hopefully, you have learned everything that you need to know about the EuroMillions and are now ready to take a chance on it yourself. Somebody has to win it and there is absolutely no reason why it cannot be one of you reading this review.