Euromillions

EuroMillions is a multinational lottery in Europe, that was created in 2004 and which was founded by the national lottery operators of the UK, France and Spain. Later that same year, Austria, Portugal, Belgium Ireland, Switzerland and Luxembourg also joined.

Draw Times

Draws are held in Paris twice a week; on Tuesday and Friday at 20:30 local time (19:30GMT). The public can view the results around 11PM through out independent and associated websites.

Ticket Prices

Tickets are £2.50 in the UK, €2.50 in France, Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium, Portugal and Austria, and CHF3.50 in Switzerland.

Eligibility

Multimillions lottery player must be 18 years of age in order to by a ticket. Besides the participatory countries, this lottery is also available in Andorra, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein and Monaco. Note that it’s also available in all French overseas departments and territories.

How to play

• At a licensed shop

Players can purchase tickets at licensed shops in any of the eligible countries.

• Online

1. Players must access the lottery via one of the participatory national lottery websites such as The National Lottery (national-lottery.co.uk) in the UK or La Française Des Jeux (fdj.fr) in France, or any associated lottery website.

2. Players fill out the online EuroMillions playslip with numbers they wish to play as all well as the number of draws they want to play in. They must pick 5 numbers from 1 to 50 and 2 Lucky Stars from 1 to 12, or choose Lucky Dip. Players may choose between three and five lines per transaction with either their own numbers or by opting for ‘Quick Pick’ which will randomly generate numbers.

3. Players then pick the number of draws they want to enter. Discounts are available for more than one draw. Tickets can be bought up to 52 draws in advance, assuming that tickets for all draw dates will have been purchased up to the latest date. For example, if you wish to purchase a ticket for a draw in one month, you will have to also purchase tickets for all draws until then in order to take advantage of the multi draw ticket discount.

UK players of EuroMillions can also enjoy an extra entry into the UK Millionaire Maker guaranteeing a £1,000,000 prize won by one ticket holder at each draw.

Prizes

EuroMillions has 13 different prize levels or tiers. The exact amount of the prize at each tier is based on the number of tickets sold at the specific draw and the number of winning tickets at any given prize level. Note that the prizes indicated below are the said to be averages as stated by the Euro Millions website:

1. Match 5 + 2 Lucky Stars; odds of 1 in 139,838,160; €46,228,470.01
2. Match 5 + 1 Lucky Star; odds of 1 in 6,991,908; €457,294.57
3. Match 5; odds of 1 in 3,107,515; €79,644.77
4. Match 4 + 2 Lucky Stars; odds of 1 in 621,503; €4,659.89
5. Match 4 + 1 Lucky Star; odds of 1 in 31,076; €209.48
6. Match 3 + 2 Lucky Stars; odds of 1 in 14,126; €66.02
7. Match 4; odds of 1 in 13,812; €102.38
8. Match 2 + 2 Lucky Stars; odds of 1 in 986; €20.06
9. Match 3 + 1; odds of Lucky Star 1 in 707; €14.68
10. Match 3 1; odds of in 314; €12.21
11. Match 1 + 2 Lucky Stars; odds of 1 in 188 €10.73
12. Match 2 + 1 Lucky Star; odds of 1 in 50 €8.06
13. Match 2; odds of 1 in 22; €4.08

Jackpot

The estimated jackpot is published prior to each draw and it’s capped at €190,000,000. The top jackpot of €190,000,000 has been reached twice so far; on October 24 2014 in an unknown Portuguese ticket holder and on August 12 2012 by Adrian and Gillian Bayford of Haverhill, Suffolk in the UK.  

Super Draws and Event draws

Super Draws and Event Draws are held twice every year and have a Jackpot that is set to a guaranteed amount. These Jackpots are usually of €100,000,000 but a few have been of €130,000,000. A Super Draw jackpot will rollover to the next draw if not won where as an Event Draw jackpot amount will be distributed to all the winners in the next tier below.