Euro Millions
The EuroMillions lottery is generally considered to be one of the largest in Europe. It offers chances to win jackpots worth up into the nine-figure range. However, a number of other special attributes makes this game stand out compared to other similar lotteries.
Casinos with Euro Millions
An Introduction to EuroMillions
Since 2004, the EuroMillions lottery has generally been considered to be one of the largest in the world. It has one of the highest levels of popularity overall, and it’s solely responsible for more people gambling than almost anything other than sports betting in Europe.
The point we’re trying to make is that this lottery is a really big deal that spans multiple nations.
For individuals who want a cheap shot at winning a life-changing sum of money, it’s hard to find better games. On top of that, it offers a lot more action with two drawings per week. This means you can more daily wager on multiple drawings in a shorter period of time. With the game being as inexpensive as it is, that’s obviously an appealing option.
The breakdowns of the prizes are a bit atypical, which is something to look out for. That’s because they’re percentage-based instead of offering static payouts. However, it’s something that’s really easy to get used to. You just want to be aware of it so that the uneven payout amounts don’t catch you by surprise.
The Basics of the EuroMillions
On the most basic level, this is a two-stage lottery like many others. It costs €2.50 per play. You have to select seven numbers to play as well. The first five numbers come from a pool that goes from 1 to 50. However, the last two numbers come from what are called the “lucky star” numbers. These run from 1 to 12 instead.
Your wins in this game are based on how many numbers you get right from those picks. However, getting picks from 1-50 correct are weighted differently than those from 1-12. This is because of the different probabilities involved, which we’ll get into down below.
Drawing Times
In Paris, France, there are two drawings for the EuroMillions lottery each week. These happen on Tuesdays and Fridays, and they’re done at 20:45 (or 8:45 pm).
It’s worth noting that this wasn’t always the case. When this lottery originally started out, only one drawing was done per week. A few different rule changes like this have happened over time, and the EuroMillions gained its second weekly drawing back in 2011.
At this time, it doesn’t look like there’s really any interest in adding a third drawing. Likewise, there’s no apparent interest in going back to just one drawing per week. Things seem to be working out pretty well for this lottery with the twice weekly system.
Being Eligible to Play
Something that’s really cool about the EuroMillions lottery is that they don’t put many restrictions on who can play. Your nationality doesn’t matter at all, and if you’re 18 or older, you’re generally good to go.
If you’re a tourist, or if you’re playing via some time of broker, the age restriction is the only thing that they really care about. However, that restriction is different in some places like in the United Kingdom or Austria where you only need to be 16 to play.
Payouts and Prizes
There are a grand total of 13 different prize tiers in this lottery. Overall, you have about a 1 in 13 chance of winning any prize at all, which comes to between 7.5 and 8 percent. That’s about average for large lotteries in general, so they’re around the industry standard.
Notes on the Payout Values
Your exact payouts will depend on how many numbers you get correct. However, it will also depend on which numbers you get correct. For example, getting 3 main numbers and 0 lucky stars is different than 1 main number and 2 lucky stars.
It’s also worth noting that the payouts vary a bit and are not static. Each prize tier is assigned a percentage of the total prize fund. Everyone who wins on that tier will split that portion of the fund. as a result, some variance will happen.
Down below, we’ll list what the expected wins tend to be for each tier, on average. They may be off by pennies here and there, but it’s a good guide as to what to expect.
Payout Listings
Here we’ll break down the available prizes. They are based on tiers, so you’ll have something like 5+2 that means 5 main numbers with 2 lucky stars. Similarly, something like 4+1 would mean 4 main numbers were guessed correctly with 1 lucky star.
- 5 + 2 – Jackpot
- 5 + 1 – €200,738
- 5 + 0 – €20,851
- 4 + 2 – €1,299
- 4 + 1 – €120
- 3 + 2 – €57
- 4 + 0 – €39
- 2 + 2 – €14
- 3 + 1 – €11
- 3 + 0 – €9
- 1 + 2 – €7
- 2 + 1 – €6
- 2 + 0 – €4
We have a few things to point out here. First off, you may notice that things might seem out of order in some places. For example, the 1 + 2 pays higher than the 2 + 1. Likewise, the 2 + 2 pays better than the 3 + 1.
These types of things happen because of the probabilities involved. The less likely it is to win a certain way, the higher the prize is for that win. In our first example, it’s less likely to win with 1 + 2 than it is to win with 2 + 1. That means the prize is made to be higher to compensate.
Jackpot Cap
Something worth pointing out is that there is a cap on the maximum size of the jackpot. If the jackpot gets up to €200 million, then it will stay at that amount for five drawings. If five drawings pass with no winner, it’ll be kicked up by €10 million to €210 million, and the process continues. For every five drawings that go with no winner decided, this will keep increasing by €10 million over and over again.
Largest EuroMillions Jackpot Wins
The rules for the roll-overs and maximum jackpots have changed over the years for EuroMillions. As a result, some of the largest wins are very nice, round, even numbers that don’t seem to make sense. That is the reason for those numbers being the way they are.
With that having been said, here are some of the largest wins this jackpot has ever had.
- December 2020 – €200 million
- October 2019 – €190 million
- October 2017 – €190 million
- October 2014 – €190 million
- August 2012 – €190 million
- June 2013 – €187.9 million
- July 2011 – €185 million
As you can see, this jackpot has hit well into the nine-figure range on multiple occasions. However, there’s one additional time the jackpot was particularly interesting.
In that particular situation, eight siblings had went in together on a ticket. They were able to take down a jackpot of just over €175 million. They were from Dublin, Ireland, and the win happened in February 2019.
Something that was tragic but interesting is that one of the siblings died before the drawing. As a result, that sibling’s family received that one-eight part of the winnings.
Overview
If you like chances for massive jackpots, then the EuroMillions lottery is something you should check out. It’s all about the bigger prizes with a somewhat higher volatility that many other similar lotteries. This is also a very inexpensive game to play without any upgrade options that players can feel pressured into.
FAQ
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