EuroMillions

The EuroMillions lottery is a multi-state lottery and can be played in several European countries since 13 February 2004. It is a cooperation of the lottery companies of the following countries: Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland and the United Kingdom. All proceeds from the sale of lottery-tickets – € 2,50 per ticket – are allocated into one pool from which the cash prizes are paid.

It was the aim of the cooperating lottery companies to create a lottery that on one hand reaches as many people as possible and on the other hand attracts this people to participate thanks to big jackpots. First plans to create a multinational lottery were made in 1994. The lottery was supposed to start with the introduction of the Euro, but bureaucratic hurdles led to a delay of some years. Compared to many national lotteries, it is less likely to win a cash prize in the Euro Millions lottery. This is due to the fact that about 220 million people are currently living in the participating countries. But the EuroMillionen lottery is still very popular because of the average height of the distributed prizes.

The principle of the game is quite similar to Eurojackpots, a transnational lottery founded in 2012. But instead of choosing two lucky star numbers out of eleven, you only choose two supplementary numbers out of eight. The jackpot of Eurojackpot does not grow to comparable sizes as the jackpot of Euromillions, because the lottery is designed to pay out much more constantly. The odds of winning Eurojackpot are therefore 1 in 59 million compared to 1 in 117 million at Euro Millions. The EuroMillions lottery has a fix jackpot pool cap of € 195 million and starts with a jackpot of € 15 million, if the jackpot was won in the previous drawing. In comparison, Eurojackpot has a jackpot pool cap of € 90 million and a starting jackpot of € 10 million. The lotteries of Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, Estonia, Denmark (also Greenland and the Faroe Islands) Sweden, Norway, Slovenia, Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands are members of the Eurojackpot lottery.

How to play EuroMillions Lotto

You are eligible to play Euromillions Lotto if you are 18 or over and live in a participating country. Parents, who buy lottery tickets for their children, have the right to claim the cash prizes on behalf of their children. If the ticket is bought for an underage, non-biological child (e.g. grand-children, nephews or nieces), the right to claim the cash prize is transferred to the respective parent. Furthermore: the person in possession of the lottery-ticket is entitled to receive the cash prize, not the one who intentionally bought it. That is also the case if the ticket is lost and found by another person and can be completely avoided by playing Euromillions online, because the lottery ticket can be assigned to the user-account without a doubt. Playing Euromillions online is currently the only way to play as a German citizen. It is recommended for betting pools to rule out how the winnings will be divided, before buying the lottery ticket.

Cash prizes can only be paid out in the country the ticket was bought, but you do not have to be a citizen of that country. It is for example possible as a German citizen to buy a lottery ticket in the United Kingdom, but the prize can only be paid out by the lottery of the United Kingdom. Cash prizes can be claimed during a period of 180 days. After this period, the money is donated to charity and other nonprofit organizations, if nobody – on purpose or not – claimed the right to receive the money. The results of the drawings can be reviewed for weeks on the official websites of the national lottery companies and other providers of lottery tickets on the internet. Even if you weren’t able to watch the drawing live, there are a sufficient number of possibilities to learn about possible winnings. Counterfeiting or modifying the lottery tickets leads to the exclusion from the procedure of identifying the winners and is a criminal act in Germany and many other countries.

The concept of EuroMillions

The principle of EuroMillions is “5 out of 50 plus 2 out of 11”. Whether you play online at home or buy a ticket in a store, first of all you have to choose five main numbers out of 50 and two additional lucky star number out of 11 afterward. You are entitled to a share in the winning amount if at least two main numbers or one main number plus two lucky star numbers are guessed correctly. The prize money is divided into 13 categories, with Category 1 one being the jackpot. Five correct main numbers and two correct lucky star numbers are necessary to win the grand prize. You need five main numbers and one lucky star number to win the prize of Category 2, five main numbers for the third category and so on. With only two correct main numbers, you win the prize of Category 13. No prizes are entitles to the combination of one main number and less than two lucky star numbers or only lucky star numbers.

Play Euromillions online

Lottery drawings are held twice a week in Paris, France under the control of official authority. Drawing days are Tuesday and Friday at 9.30 p.m. (UTC+2). The drawings can be viewed live on France 2, the biggest public broadcasting station of France. Lottery tickets have to be bought until 6.30 p.m. of the same day in order to being allowed to participate in the drawing. Lottery tickets bought after the deadline automatically participate on the next drawing held.

Buying a lottery ticket online takes only a few clicks and combines many advantages. You can for example buy multiple tickets at once and mark as many spots as you want. They can’t get lost and are easily assignable to the user accounts. Cash prizes get directly credited to your bank account or can be used to buy new tickets, misunderstandings and disputes are therefore impossible. You don’t have to pay taxes on lottery winnings as a German citizen, but on the interest they throw off.

A very popular feature is the “Quicktipp”, which randomly chooses your main and star numbers. The feature prevents you from marking alleged lucky numbers, such as dates of birth and phone numbers, or series of numbers that have only a very low chance of winning on reality. It is furthermore possible to determine the duration of validity of the lottery ticket, in case you want it to participate in the lottery for several weeks. Some providers offer retention periods up to 8 weeks. You are able to choose, whether the ticket is only good for drawings on Tuesday or Friday or on both days. € 2,50 have to be paid for every time a lottery tickets enters the drawing procedure. Helpful statistics based on the results of earlier drawings can be found on the websites of many providers of EuroMillions Lotto.

Only in the UK: the Millionaire Raffle

If you choose to buy a ticket from the lottery of the United Kingdom, you automatically participate in the UK Millionaire Raffle, where an additional ₤ 1 Million (about € 1.1 Million) can be won twice a week. Every time you purchase a lottery ticket, a personal raffle number consisting of three letters and six numbers is generated. Every raffle number exists only once, so if you are the lucky winner, you won’t have to split up the prize money with other players. The raffle is held shortly after the drawing of the Euromillions lottery.

Guaranteed jackpot of € 15 million

The winner of the Euromillions jackpot can rejoice over a minimum jackpot of € 15 million, which is the guaranteed starting jackpot of every drawing. After each drawing the jackpot did not get won, it is raised by at least € 5 million plus the sum of the selling of lottery tickets that is determined to go into the jackpot. This procedure gets redone until the jackpot is either won or reached a maximum of € 190.000.000. Two things happen, as soon as the jackpot reaches its maximum capacity. First of all, additional sales revenues from lottery tickets will be added to the next lower prize level. Furthermore, if the jackpot stays un-won after two further drawings, the jackpot money will be distributed amongst the winners at the next lower prize category. This method is called “Rolldown” and came to use for the first time on 21 February 2012. The Rolldown grants player at lower prize level the chance to win a lot of many, a practice which is not common amongst many other lottery companies. The jackpot starts regularly at € 15 million after each Rolldown.

Notable wins

The highest jackpot ever won is € 190 million. A young couple from Scotland won the grand prize on 14 August 2012, after they were only married for a short time. Nine-figure jackpots were won beforehand, for example by an also Scottish couple (€ 185 million) only about one year earlier and by a French winner (€ 162 million) shortly after. Fortunate winners from Switzerland, Spain and other parts of the United Kingdom were also able win jackpots between € 94 million and € 130 million.

The chances to win the jackpot at prize level 1 are only 1 in 116.531.800, because five correct main and two correct lucky star numbers are required. The other prize levels (2 to 13) require less correct numbers, what makes it easier to win these. But the amount of the money, that can be won, drops at the same time. Winning money at prize level 13 for example only requires two correct main numbers, what equates to a chance of about 1 in 22 or 4%. The average money won at this level is therefore merely about € 4,11. The chances of winning money at any price level are about 7.8%. Prize money won in any of the categories has to be split up with any other player at the appropriate level.

The EuroMillions prize levels

The subsequent chart shows the 13 available prize levels, the required combinations of main and star numbers and the theoretical chance to win.

The calculations of the chance to win at a prize level are based on the assumption, that every possible combination (116.531.800 overall) is marked equally. Since this is not the case in reality, the real chances depend on the number of number of lottery tickets sold.

EuroMillions compared to Lotto 6/49

The chances of winning at Euromillions Lotto are supposedly lower than at Lotto 6 aus 49, but the amount of money paid out if successful is higher. This is based on the fact that there are a higher number of people playing transnational lotteries. Playing Euromillions Lotto online is nevertheless very interesting due to the fact that it especially focuses upon the first prize level. About a third of the entire money, that can be won, is benefited into prize level 1.

In comparison: the chances to win the jackpot at Lotto 6 aus 49 are 1 in 15.537.573, with only benefiting 10% of the entire money to this prize level. Since a change of the rules in May 2013 and the introduction of a ninth prize level, the chances of winning anything are about 3,23%. Marking a spot on a ticket of Lotto 6 aus 49 costs € 1 plus additional service fee, buying a single lottery ticket of Euromillions costs € 2,50. In summary it can be said, that playing Euromillions is more expensive, than Lotto 6 aus 49, but provides better chances of winning and jackpots, that are much higher.