Information about the EuroMillions lottery

How does Euromillions work? Euromillions.com gives you all the answers to how Europes biggest lottery works

Summary
Conducted every Tuesday and Friday, Euro Millions is the most popular lottery in Europe, because it regularly boasts some of the highest jackpots in the world. Most national lottery games are just that, national, meaning that it is only available to the citizens of one country. Euromillions however is enjoyed by people all over the world, as it involves 9 participating countries. Naturally the 9 participating countries are what help make the jackpots some of the highest in the world. The more people who can enter then the more money that is available to be won. The Euromillions lottery offers consecutive rollovers, meaning that the jackpot can push as high as €190 million as each jackpot stacks on top of the previous jackpot.

The nine countries which actively take part in Euromillions are Switzerland, France, Austria, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg. The official organizers of this lottery game in each of the participating countries are:

• The UK National Lottery (United Kingdom)
• Irish Lotto (Ireland)
• La Francaise des Jeux (France)
• Loterie Nationale de Belgique (Belgium)
• Swisslos Interkantonale Landeslotterie (Switzerland)
• Suisse, Loterie De La Suisse Romande (Switzerland)
• Portuguese Lottery – Campiao (Portugal)
• Austrian State Lottery (Austria)
• Loterias y Apuestas del Estado (Spain)
• Loterie Nationale of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

History

In it's inception the Euromillions was created to keep up with other European National lotteries, however it soon started to set the pace for others to follow. Euromillions was designed to have a grand launch at the same time as a single European currency in 1994. However, the schedule was postponed several times over a period of ten years. Finally the lottery was launched on 13th February, 2004 on a Friday, when the first draw was carried out in Paris.
The Euromillions lottery was launched by the French Francais des Jeux in association with Spain’s Loterias y Apuestas del Estado and United Kingdom’s Camelot. Their joint efforts led to the gathering of a €15 million jackpot, the very first prize money. As the time passed and the lottery started gaining prominence, other European nations started to take part in the Euromillions Lottery. The rapidly growing popularity for the game resulted in the inclusion of a further 6 nations: Portugal, Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria in October 2004.
Officially the history of the Euromillions had begun in 1994 with the initial idea, despite taking a further 10 years to launch the game has only continued to expand.

How does it work?

Because of it's now worldwide popularity, Euromillions has quickly become one of the largest lottery games in the world. Excitement among it's players reaches fever pitch, with rollover jackpots having people queuing up to buy their ticket. Previously, this game could be played only by those people who resided in one of the aforementioned participating countries. They would visited retail lottery outlets to buy Euro Millions tickets. Today, the tickets have been made available online. Thanks to online ticket purchasing agencies that buy your tickets for you, you can now play Euromillions online from anywhere in the world

Rules

The Euromillions is governed by rules to ensure that the game is completely fair. The rules for playing Euromillions are as below:

• To be an eligible participant of Euromillions you must be 18 years old or more to buy a ticket (16 in the UK).
• Prizes can only be claimed in the country that issued the winning ticket. But when purchased through Euromillions.com, you will receive your winnings straight to your account no matter where you are located.
• The bearer of a Euromillions ticket will usually be deemed as being the rightful owner and winner as opposed to the purchaser. This means that if you lose a winning Euromillions ticket that you bought in a physical outlet the person who finds that ticket may claim the prize won by that ticket. Tickets bought online however are linked directly to the purchaser by name and therefore cannot be lost in the first place.
• In 2009 a cap on the Euromillions jackpot was introduced so that it cannot exceed €190 million
• Deadlines for claiming Euromillions prizes exist and thus prize winners are advised to claim their prize as soon as possible after each draw to avoid their prize being deemed void. The UK deadline is 180 days but varies from country to country and thus participants should make themselves familiar with said rules to avoid unnecessary complication and disappointment.

Format

In order to play Euromillions, you need to select a total of seven (5+2) numbers from the two ball sets numbered from 1-50 and 1-11, respectively. You win jackpot when all the seven numbers match with the drawn numbers. Remember players must be 18 years or older, and must claim their prize within 180 days of the winning draw.

Rollover system
Without a doubt the biggest strength of the Euromillion lottery is the inclusion of an attractive rollover system that is designed solely for the benefit of the players. A player can hits the jackpot only when they match the 5 main numbers and 2 lucky star numbers with the draw. However, if nobody manages to win the jackpot amount then the final prize sum is carried over and added to the final prize of the next week.
When the potential jackpot reaches over 100 million euros the number of players testing their luck is staggering, as they often queue up for their ticket! Now, a limit has been set on the maximum rolled over amount that can be awarded to a single player of €190 million. Once the amount reaches this level the jackpot will not be added to when it rolls over.

Special Add-ons
UK Millionaire Raffle (United Kingdom)
The EuroMillions UK Millionaire Raffle game has been introduced so that at least one player can win a guaranteed prize of £1,000,000 every week. This game is designed especially for the residents of the UK. If you grab this prize, your main EuroMillions entry is also still valid. Therefore, it means that you not only win the Millionaire Raffle but can also win the main game on that day itself. This raffle is a great incentive for UK residents to enter the EuroMillions.
The chances of winning the UK Millionaire Raffle game on a Tuesday is approximately 1 in 3,500,000. On a Friday, roughly 1 in 9,200,000. The odds of UK Millionaire Raffle are based on how many tickets are sold, and provide far better odds of winning than the Euromillions jackpot alone.
A winner of the UK Millionaire Raffle game needs to collect his or her prize within 180 days of the draw date. This is a strict rule of this game. If you fail to claim the winning prize within the stipulated time, your prize will be declared void, and will be transferred to the UK lottery charity funds. Many players opt for the online raffle game because if they win, they are informed directly through e-mail. From this email they can immediately start the claims process.
In order to play the UK Millionaire Raffle, you need to pay £2 to obtain a ticket for one game. The raffle ticket contains a mix of 3 alphabetical letters and 6 numerical figures, such as CDE 678910. This is the unique combination and hence, no two individuals will ever get the same selection.

Euromillions Plus (Ireland)
The concept of Euro Millions Plus was created by the National Lottery in the year 2007 for Ireland alone. This is an add-on to the main EuroMillions lotto. In order to play this game, players just need to pay an extra charge of €1 per line to get their first five board numbers (excluding lucky star numbers) entered in an additional draw, which features fixed prize money of up to €500,000. Each line can only be entered once in this way.
EuroMillions Plus allows players to win a fixed prize reward of €2,000 if four numbers emerge lucky and €20 if three numbers correctly match in the draw. The EuroMillions Plus game was played on 15 June 2007 for the first time. In 2009, six Plus games were played with a top prize of €1 million. The draws are announced on Tuesday and Friday every week.
Playing EuroMillions Plus is easy. After you have chosen your numbers or selected quick pick, you can enter ‘Plus’ by choosing simply ticking Plus box positioned on the upper left corner of your ticket. Or else, when buying your ticket, ask your local retailer to enter your line in Euromillions Plus.

Prizes

In addition to the jackpot a player can also win 12 other prizes based on matching at least 2 balls or more. If in a particular week no player wins the jackpot, the amount is rolled over to next week.

Prize Structure:

Odds

Now the question is – what are the Euromillions odds or the chance of winning the Euromillions lottery? In simple terms, the odds for winning the Euro millions lottery jackpot are huge. Luckily The lottery offers 13 categories of prize money.
For winning the Euromillion jackpot amount, you need to have the exact five numbers on your ticket as the main board and the two lucky star numbers. The Euromillions odds of this taking place are a bit less than 1 in about 117 million. No doubt, the winning chances are less for a jackpot, but considering the immensity of the final prize amount which could be as high as €190 million. On the other hand you have 1 in 23 chance to win any prize and at least double your money.

Tickets
Deadline for buying tickets is 19:30 on the day of the draw in physical shops and 19:00 for Euromillions.com.
Ticket Prices

• United Kingdom: £2 (UK Resident only)
• EU: €2 (Participating countries only)
• Switzerland: CHF 3

Online ticket agencies

The number 1 reason people are playing online is simply the convenience it offers. We will handle the purchase and checking of your Euromillions ticket. Stay in the comfort of your home, order your ticket from the office, it's your choice. In this way you can purchase your ticket from almost anywhere in the world, at any time, and have peace of mind of your entry in the next Euromillions draw.
Want to keep playing the same numbers? You will be able to view your last numbers and opt to play them again with one click. If you find yourself often looking around for the latest draw results, then no more; we email every one of our winners within moments of any winning result.
The nightmare scenario of losing a winning Euro Millions ticket is eliminated. Buying your ticket online personally associates your entry with you, meaning your prize winning ticket will never be lost or misplaced. You'll always have safety and security with your Euromillions entry.

Pros

• As the lottery grows with players all around the world, the massively increased support for charity funds and other good casuses has increased in kind. Charity has always been a big part of the Euromillions lottery, help support good causes with every ticket you buy.
• The most positive effect of the introduction of online play is the increase in the prize funds. The prize fund is made up of ticket sales. The more tickets sold, the higher the prize fund. With people from all over the world now able to play online, prize funds have naturally increased. So now you have more potential money to win.
• Bonuses & rewards: At Euromillions.com you get to play your first ticket risk free, which means that if you don't win you will be refunded with the amount to your Euromillions.com account. If you tell a friend about Euromillions.com and your friend deposits money you will receive a free ticket for each friend you refer.

Steps

• Step 1. Register
• Step 2. Choose your numbers
• Step 3. Receive the news if you have won or not.
• Step 4. When you win, the winnings will automatically be sent to you account.

Physical outlets

A large number of people in Europe still prefer to buy Euromillions via the traditional method of visiting their local retailer directly. However there are some disadvantages to this, as once the ticket is purchased the player must track the results themselves, adding the inconvenience of having to check the results yourself twice a week. This option is only available to people in the participating countries.

Further reading

• Increase your chances of winning Euromillions