How to play EuroMillions
To play EuroMillions the player has to select five numbers between 1 and 50 and 2 Lucky Stars between 1 and 9.
To win a EuroMillions prize the player needs to match at least 3 numbers, 1 number and 2 Lucky Stars or 2 Numbers and 1 Lucky Star. To win the EuroMillions lottery jackpot or at least a part of it, the player needs to match all 5 numbers as well as the 2 Lucky Stars that are drawn by the national lottery.
About EuroMillions
EuroMillions is a European lottery game that was first Launched on the 7 February 2004 by the founding lotteries Camelot (United Kingdom), Française des Jeux (France) and the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado (Spain). The first draw took place on Friday the 13th of February 2004 in Paris. Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland then joined EuroMillions on the 8th of October 2004. EuroMillions is Europe's biggest rollover jackpot lottery game.
The draws take place every friday night in Paris for which a standard Euro Millions ticket costs €2.00, £2.00 or CHF3.00 per line played. Due to the exchange rate between the Pound and the Euro the price of a ticket had to be increase from £1.50 to £2.00 on the 7th of November 2009.
The Euro Millions jackpot is roughly (depending on the exchange rate) the same size in participating countries. Except the jackpot, other Prizes are sized according to participation per country. All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax-free (except in Switzerland) and are paid in lump sum.
The 5 numbers and 2 Lucky Stars are drawn from a machine with numbered balls. The machine used for the numbers is called Stresa and the one for the Lucky Stars is Paquerette. The results can easily be found online for example at www.lottery24.com or many others.
The reserve fund is used to boost an initial jackpot before EuroMillion jackpots start rolling over. Odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24. 6% of the prize fund is allocated to the "Reserve Fund" for the previously mentioned reason. Should the EuroMillions Jackpot not be won, it rolls over to the following week.
Effective on the 7th November 2009 new rules were put in place regarding rollovers. Until that moment, EuroMillions were limited to roll over 11 times. Should nobody have won the jackpot by the 11th rollover, the jackpot money would have been split among the lower prize levels.
The new rules also introduced that when the Euro Millions jackpot reaches €185,000,000 (185 million), the remainder of the prize money would be passed onto the next lower prize category of 5 numbers + 1 Lucky Star. If however still nobody wins the jackpot, the following jackpot will only grow by 5 millions, while again the the remaining prize money is passed onto the next lower prize category of 5 numbers + 1 Lucky Star.
EuroMillions Trust
The participating national lotteries in the Euro Millions game have each established a EuroMillions Trust account. This is used for the settlement of all amounts due and for holding amounts in respect of future prizes. The trusts arrangement protects the participating lotteries. If one of the national lottery members default on the payment, the trust will be used to cover the players prize.
EuroMillions Superdraw
Approximately twice a year the national lottery sets the jackpot to €100 million or even €130 million, regardless of the Jackpot the week before. The national lottery calls those jackpots the Super Draw.
Historical Super Draws were on:
- 10th of May 2011 at €100 million or £85 million for players from the UK
- 1st of October 2010 at €100 million
- 5th of February 2010 at €100 million
- 18th of September 2009 at €100 million
- 6th of March 2009 at €100 million
- 26th of September 2008 at €130 million
- 8th of February 2008 at €130 million
- 28th of September 2007 at €130 million
- 9th of February 2007 at €100 million
Old rules stated, that if the jackpot was not won then the money was distributed between the winners of the lower levels. (This happened for example on the 28th of September 2007)
Under the new rules from the 7th November 2009, if no one wins the Super Draw jackpot it is now rolled over to the next week. This happened on the 5th of February 2010 draw which rolled over to the 12th of February 2010 when the €129 million prize was split by two winners. The last Superdraw of 100 million euros was on Friday the 1st of October 2010 and rolled over to the 8th of October 2010 to a prize of €129.8 millions.
EuroMillions Tuesday draws
Since the 10th of May 2011 the EuroMillions lottery is drawn on Tuesday as well as Friday. In addition the star numbers have been increased from 9 to 11 to decrease the chance of winning. The lottery organizers are hoping that because of the reduced chance of winnings, larger jackpots should become more regular. This has been done because throughout 2010 there were hardly any large jackpots due to the small number of EuroMillions rollovers. It is not sure how player behavior will be as two draws per week for £2 can be rather expensive for some players.