EuroMillions - the most exciting lottery in Europe

The EuroMillions lottery counts among the most popular multi-national lotteries in the world, with millions of people across Europe regularly competing in winning the jackpot. EuroMillions was launched on 7 February 2004 by three national lottery operators: French “Française des Jeux“, Spain’s “Loterías y Apuestas del Estado” as well as UK’s “Camelot”. The first euromillions draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris. Thus, at the beginning, there were no more than 3 participating countries, but later on, i.e. on 8 October 2004, 6 other European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, the Irish Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joined the multinational system. Meanwhile Andorra, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein and Monaco have also joined, adding up the total number of national lottery operators to 13.

EuroMillions can be played both offline and online. There is a number of licensed dealers to buy your EuroMillions ticket from. However, it is recommended that EuroMillion tickets be purchased online. By doing so, you avoid the risk of losing your ticket or forgetting to claim your prize in case you have won. What makes EuroMillions especially attractive is the fact that the prize money is, with more people paying in, alot higher than in single national lotteries.

Claim your free Euromillions ticket now and pick your numbers for the jackpot!

50% of the EuroMillions tickets sales are destined for the prize money pool, the other 50% are otherwise spent. It is upon each national operator to decide for which purpose to spend the other half of the revenues generated. Usually, part of the money is used in order to support “good causes”, i.e. projects and institutions that contribute to the common good. The other part of the money has to be paid to the retailers as a commission and to the state as lottery duty.

Principle of the game

The rules are quite simple. Similarly to lotto 6/49, you have to fill in lines of different numbers. A basic ticket consists of 2 separate sequences of numbers. The first is made up of 5 different main numbers, which can range from 1 to 50. The second is made up of 2 so called star numbers, which range from 1 to 11. In the UK, there is an additional feature on each EuroMillions ticket, the UK millionaire raffle. This raffle guarantees a sum of £1,000,000 to one lucky player in every euromillions draw. The raffle number, a combination of 3 letters followed by 6 numbers, is automatically allocated when you buy a ticket for the main draw and is separately drawn by an automatic draw machine (ADM). A standard EuroMillions ticket costs €2.00, £2.00 or CHF3.00 per line played.

How to fill out a normal eurimillions ticket All in all, there are 13 prize categories. The highest category, i.e. a hundred percent match of the 5 main numbers and the 2 star numbers, is class one. This means you are entitled to the jackpot. The lowest price category, class 13, requires a match of 2 main numbers only. Anyone whose ticket matches less than 2 main numbers is out of luck, regardless of whether they have 1 matching star number. 2 matching star numbers and 1 main number, however, mean that you have won the 11th prize category, i.e. the antepenultimate category.

The odds of winning any prize on EuroMillions, i.e. all odds taken into consideration, are 13 to 1.

How to win the Jackpot

You are entitled to the jackpot if all the numbers on your ticket match the numbers drawn. There is a guaranteed minimum jackpot of the order of €15m (£12m). If the Jackpot is not won or the jackpot winner omits to claim the money, it rolls over to the next draw, until the maximum jackpot sum of €190m (£161m) is reached. The rules provide that once this cap is hit, it can only be maintained for a maximum of two draws, which means that if the second draw has not seen a jackpot winner either, this sum will definitely roll down to the next winning prize tier. Theoretically, if there are no winners in class 2 and 3, he or she who has 4 main numbers as well as 2 stars (4th prize tier) is the lucky winner of the jackpot money. The highest price to have ever been won so far, amounts to €115m.

All about the Euromillions Draw

Draws are held every Tuesday and Friday night at 20:45 in Paris. The main numbers and star numbers are drawn in separate drawing machines, filled with uniquely numbered balls from 1 to 50 and from 1 to 11, respectively. Shortly after the balls being drawn, the results are published in order for the players to check. The deadline for purchasing a ticket is 19:30 on the day of the respective draw. Any tickets purchased after this will only be considered for the next draw.

Rules and conditions

All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax-free except in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. The money is paid out as a lump sum. Participants in the euromillions draw must have a minimum age, depending on the country in which they reside. In the UK, for instance, you must be at least 16 years old. In other countries the required minimum age is 18 years or even 21 years. A prize can only be claimed in the country which issued the winning ticket. This does however not mean that you need to be a citizen or resident of the respective country in order to buy a ticket and claim your prize. It must furthermore be noted that the bearer of a winning ticket is entitled to the money prize, which means that it is impossible to claim any money in case of having lost the ticket. To prove your legal ownership in case of a legal dispute, you ought to add your signature on the reverse side of the ticket. Moreover, you should take a photo of your ticket including the signature. If you buy your ticket online, your ownership is beyond doubt because your identity is linked to your account.