EuroMillions

EuroMillions is a transnational lottery, launched on 7 February 2004 by France's Française des Jeux, Spain's Loterías y Apuestas del Estado and the United Kingdom's Camelot. The first draw was held on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris. Initially, only the UK, France and Spain participated, with the Austrian, Belgian, Irish, Luxembourgish, Portuguese and Swiss lotteries joining for the 8 October 2004 drawing.

Draws are held every Tuesday and Friday night at 20:45 CET^[1] in Paris. A standard EuroMillions ticket costs €2.00, £2.00 or CHF3.00 per line played, depending on the local currency. (An option, called Plus, currently available only in Ireland and Portugal, adds €1.00 per line; and a new (as of February 2014) non-optional addition called "My Million" in France adds €0.50 per line) The cost of playing in the UK increased from £1.50 to £2.00 per line on 7 November 2009, due to the combination of: the EUR/GBP exchange rate, and an automatic entry in its Millionaire Raffle.

All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax-free (except in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal since 2013) and are paid as a lump sum.

Play

• The player selects five main numbers which can be any number from 1 to 50.
• The player selects two different lucky star numbers from a pool of 11 numbers.

Draws take place at 20:45 every Tuesday and Friday in Paris. The results are published shortly after the draw on associated and independent websites around 23:00 hours.

To participate in the EuroMillions Lotto, you can purchase tickets from many outlets, namely at licenced stores and online websites.

The gameplay changed on Tuesday 10 May 2011 with a second weekly draw and the number of "lucky stars" in the Pacquerette machine increasing from 9 to 11. A prize for matching two main numbers and no lucky stars was also introduced on the same date.

Eligibility

• Any person 18 or over who resides in a participating country. The minimum age differs in some countries, e.g. it is 16 years in the UK.^[2]
• The game is currently available to players in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France (including overseas regions and collectivities), Ireland, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Prize structure

As of Tuesday 10 May 2011 the structure of the draw was changed, with the Lucky Star being drawn from a pool of 11 numbers instead of the old 9. The prize structure as of Tuesday 10 May 2011 is as follows:

Main numbers	Lucky stars	Probability of winning		% of prize fund	Expected winnings (€)	Expected winnings (£)[3]
		Fraction	Decimal
2	0	1 in 23	0.0438	18.0%	€4	£2.70
2	1	1 in 46	0.0219	17.6%	€8	£5.40
1	2	1 in 156	0.0064	6.5%	€10	£6.90
3	0	1 in 327	0.0031	3.7%	€12	£8.20
3	1	1 in 654	0.0015	2.2%	€14	£9.80
2	2	1 in 821	0.0012	2.3%	€19	£12.80
3	2	1 in 11,771	0.000085	0.5%	€59	£40.10
4	0	1 in 14,387	0.000070	0.7%	€101	£68.60
4	1	1 in 28,773	0.000035	0.7%	€201	£137.20
4	2	1 in 517,919	0.0000019	0.8%	€4,143	£2,824.30
5	0	1 in 3,236,994	0.00000031	1.6%	€51,792	£35,303.90
5	1	1 in 6,473,989	0.00000015	4.8%	€310,751	£211,823.60
5	2	1 in 116,531,800	0.0000000086	32.0%	Jackpot	Jackpot
Booster fund				8.6%

The booster fund is available to contribute to the jackpot, for example to boost the initial jackpot in a sequence of growing jackpots. The amount utilized each week is determined in advance by the participating lotteries.

• The odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 13
• The odds of getting none of the 50 main balls but getting both lucky stars is approximately 1 in 95. This means that it is less likely than getting 2 main balls and one lucky star (1 in 46). However, there is no prize for only getting 2 lucky stars.
• As of 10 May 2011, 8.6% of the prize fund is allocated to a "Booster Fund" which can be used to boost the jackpot prize.
• The figures for the estimated prize are just a guide, and the actual amount varies according to the total in the prize fund and the number of winners for each prize. (Estimated prizes as per reverse of UK playslip)
• If the Jackpot is not won, it rolls over to the next draw.

Effective 7 November 2009 new rules were put in place regarding rollovers.^[4]

• The new rules introduce the Jackpot Pool Cap. The jackpot will continue to rollover until the Jackpot reaches or exceeds €185,000,000, the Jackpot will remain at €185,000,000 and any additional prize money rolled over will be added to the jackpot pool for the next lower prize level containing at least one winner (5 main numbers + 1 Lucky Star or possibly even just five main numbers).
• After winning the Jackpot with a Jackpot Pool Cap, the Jackpot Pool Cap grows by €5,000,000. (In other words, after the capped Jackpot of €185,000,000 is won, the next Jackpot Pool Cap is €190,000,000, then the next time €195,000,000 etc.)
• If the €190,000,000 Jackpot is still not won, the Jackpot will continue to be €190,000,000 for the next draw if it is won, and again any additional prize money will be added to the jackpot pool for the next lower prize level containing at least one winner.

A new rule change of 12 January 2012 locks the Jackpot cap at €190,000,000 permanently and if the jackpot is not won after two draws, the prize money will be distributed amongst the winners at the next level.

EuroMillions Trust

The participating national lotteries in the EuroMillions 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. This trust arrangement protects the participating lotteries between them from a default from one of the national companies and ultimately the players interests.

Super Draws and Event draws

Super Draws and Event draws are special drawings when the Jackpot is set to a guaranteed amount - often €100,000,000. The difference being that a Super Draw jackpot will roll over to the next drawing if not won but an Event Draw jackpot will be distributed amongst the winners in the next lower tier (i.e. match 5 + 1).

The first Super draw of 2011 took place on Tuesday 10 May to mark the introduction of the second weekly Euromillions draw and changes to the game format (11 lucky stars instead of 9 and a new "match 2 main numbers and no lucky stars" prize tier)

Super draws have been held to date on

• 9 February 2007 (€100 million);
• 28 September 2007 (€130 million);
• 8 February 2008 (€130 million);
• 26 September 2008 (€130 million);
• 6 March 2009 (€100 million);
• 18 September 2009 (€100 million);
• 5 February 2010 (€100 million);
• 1 October 2010 (€100 million);
• 10 May 2011 (€100 million);
• 4 October 2011 (€100 million);
• 28 September 2012 (€100 million);
• 22 March 2013 (€100 million);
• 7 June 2013 (€100 million);
• 15 November 2013 (€100 million);
• 7 March 2014 (€100 million);
• 3 October 2014 (€100 million);
• 6 March 2015 (€100 million).

(A €100,000,000 superdraw was planned for 6 June 2014 but was cancelled when the jackpot rolled over to €105,000,000^[5])

(This is a change to the game rules^[6] as of 4 April 2011 when the Event Draw was added. To date, there is yet to be an Event Draw.)

Notable wins

Date	Prize money	Winner	Other details
6 March 2015	€100,000,000 or £72,180,000.00	1 Portuguese ticket	Anonymous,
24 October 2014	€190,000,000 or £149,758,000.00	1 Portuguese ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in Castelo Branco[7]
13 June 2014	€137,313,501 or £109,589,905	1 Spanish ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in Parla (Community of Madrid)
14 March 2014	€129,384,564 or £107,932,603.20	1 UK ticket	Neil Trotter from Coulsdon, Greater London[8]
7 January 2014	€130,277,770 or £108,247,799	2 winning tickets (Spain and France)	Anonymous, tickets were bought in Noia in Galicia and in departement Indre-et-Loire.
15 November 2013	€100,000,000 or £83,830,000	1 Spanish ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in Almunecar (province of Granada)
23 August 2013	€93,948,087 or £80,738,985	1 Swiss ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in canton Valais.
25 June 2013	€187,937,614 or £159,559,034	2 winning tickets (Ireland and Belgium)	Anonymous, tickets were bought in the Dublin region and in the province of Limburg.
28 May 2013	€95,372,874 or £81,381,673.30	1 UK ticket	Anonymous[9]
29 March 2013	€132,486,744 or £112,017,541	1 French ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in departement Seine-et-Marne.
21 December 2012	€101,835,641 or £83,087,699	1 French ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in departement Haute-Garonne.
13 November 2012	€169,837,010 or £136,124,363	1 French ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in departement Alpes-Maritimes.
28 September 2012	€100,000,000 or £79,750,000	1 Spanish ticket	Montserrat Mutgé from Barcelona[10]
10 August 2012	€190,000,000 or £148,656,000	1 UK ticket	Adrian and Gillian Bayford of Haverhill, Suffolk[11]
7 October 2011	€117,705,979 or £101,203,600.70	1 UK ticket	Dave and Angela Dawes from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.[12]
13 September 2011	€162,256,622 or £140,822,522.00	1 French ticket	Anonymous, ticket sold in departement Calvados.
12 July 2011	€185,000,000 or £161,653,000	1 UK ticket[13]	Colin and Chris Weir from Largs 33 miles (53 km) from Glasgow.
13 May 2011	€121,019,633 or £105,892,179	1 Spanish ticket	30-year-old baker Francisco Delgado Rodríguez from Pilas (Seville).[14]
8 October 2010	€129,818,431[15] or £113,019,926	1 UK ticket	Anonymous.[16]
14 May 2010	€100,037,101[17] or £84,451,321[18]	1 UK ticket	Anonymous
12 February 2010	€129,618,406[17] or £112,016,226	2 winning tickets (Spain and UK)	Nigel Page and Justine Laycock from Cirencester won £56,008,113.20[19][20]
6 November 2009	€102,199,675[21] or £91,141,671[22]	2 winning tickets (both UK)	Two winners shared the jackpot prize, receiving £45.5 million each, the largest lottery prizes ever paid out in the UK at that time.[22] One of the winning tickets was held by a syndicate of seven people from Liverpool (each receiving £6.5 million); the other by Les Scadding and Samantha Peachey-Scadding from Newport.[23]
18 September 2009	€100,000,000 or £89 million	1 French ticket	Syndicate of 15 players. Each member won more than €6 million. Ticket sold in departement Bouches-du-Rhône.
8 May 2009	€126,231,764 or £113,229,891[24]	1 Spanish ticket	Unnamed 25-year old Spanish woman. At the time was the largest jackpot to have been won by a single ticket holder in Europe.[24]
6 March 2009	€100,000,000	2 people (1 French, 1 Austrian)	Two winners shared the jackpot prize, receiving €50 million each.
26 September 2008	€130,000,000	15 people (4 British, 3 French, 3 Portuguese, 2 Spanish, 1 Austrian, 1 Belgian, 1 Swiss)	There was no winner with all 5 numbers and both lucky stars. The super-draw jackpot of was shared by those who had 5 numbers plus 1 lucky star, winning a total of nearly €9.2 million each.
5 September 2008	€119,349,706	2 people (1 Spanish, 1 Portuguese)	Two winners shared the jackpot prize, receiving nearly €60 million each.
8 February 2008	€130,000,000	16 people (6 British, 5 French, 2 Swiss, 1 Austrian, 1 Belgian, 1 Portuguese)	There was no winner with all 5 numbers and both lucky stars. The super-draw jackpot was shared by those with 5 numbers plus 1 lucky star, winning a total of over €8.6 million each.
28 September 2007	€130,000,000	14 people (6 British, 5 Spanish, 2 French, 1 Belgian)	There was no winner with all 5 numbers and both lucky stars. The super-draw jackpot was shared by those with 5 numbers plus 1 lucky star, winning a total of over €9.8 million each.
10 August 2007	€52,630,236 or £35,425,411.80	1 UK ticket	Angela Kelly, a 40-year-old former Royal Mail postal administrator from East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, Scotland, at the time won the largest lottery win ever in the United Kingdom.[25]
9 February 2007	€100,000,000 or £67.9 million	1 Belgian ticket	Unnamed Belgian man who won the EuroMillions jackpot with a ticket bought in a newspaper shop in Tienen. This was the biggest lottery win in Belgium and at the time the third-biggest individual win in EuroMillions history.
17 November 2006	€183,109,057 or £124 million	20 people (7 British, 4 French, 3 Spanish, 3 Portuguese, 2 Irish, 1 Belgian)	No ticket matched all the winning numbers for the twelfth draw and the jackpot was divided among the twenty tickets that matched 5 numbers plus one lucky star. Each ticket holder won 5% of the jackpot plus the regular match 5 +1 prize (a total of over €9.6 million or £7.1 million each). Seven of the twenty tickets were sold in the United Kingdom, four in France, three each in Spain and Portugal, two in Ireland and one in Belgium.
31 March 2006	€75,753,123 or £56,608,222	1 Belgian ticket	Unnamed Belgian man. This was the second biggest win to date in Belgium, and the third-biggest prize won by a single person.
3 February 2006	€183,573,078 or £134 million	3 people (2 French, 1 Portuguese)	Three ticket holders, two in France and one in Portugal.[26] They each received €61,191,026.
29 July 2005	€115,436,126 or £77 million	1 Irish ticket	Dolores McNamara, a 45-year-old mother of six from Garryowen, Limerick, Ireland. She was the biggest individual winner in EuroMillions history at the time. She claimed the prize on 4 August 2005 at the Irish National Lottery's headquarters in Dublin.[27]

Distribution of revenue

In the UK, the total EuroMillions revenue is broken down as follows:^[28]

Breakdown of UK EuroMillions revenue
0.5%	in profit to Camelot
4.5%	in operating costs
5%	in commission to the retailers.
12%	to the UK Government (Lottery Duty)
28%	for the "Good Causes"
50%	to winners

Email Scams making use of EuroMillions Brand Name

When Chris and Colin Weir, one couple who won the EuroMillions, pledged to donate their prize money to good causes,^[29] cyber criminals started using the couple's name in their email scams to fool the general public and ultimately cheat them of money.^{[30] [31]}

EuroMillions Plus (Ireland only)

In June 2007, with the success of the main EuroMillions game, the Irish National Lottery launched EuroMillions Plus. For an extra €1 per line, players could enter the additional draw with the top prize each week of €500,000. Sales of the main EuroMillions in Ireland for 2006 were over €145 million; this success led to the introduction of 'Plus'.

UK Millionaire Maker

Since November 2009 at least one UK player every week has won a guaranteed million Pounds Sterling. With the introduction of the Tuesday EuroMillions Draw on Tuesday 10 May 2011 there are now 2 Millionaire Raffle winners each week.

According to the Euromillions website, the chances of winning the UK Millionaire Maker game on a Tuesday can be estimated as 1 in 4,300,000 but can grow to 1 in 5,000,000 in the events of rollovers. On a Friday, it can be calculated as 1 in 7,700,000 but again the odds can rise to 1 in 8,600,000 in the events of a 4 times rollover. Winning in this game depends entirely on the number of the playslips sold so the odds fluctuate. The odds may also fluctuate during a super draw or a special event in the UK Millionaire Raffle.

Prices per line in the UK increased by 50 pence to £2.00. The 50 pence was added due to weak exchange rates between the pound and euro and to cover the expense of the new Millionaire Maker.

UK Millionaire Maker Special Events

• On Friday 26th December 2014, there were 10 winners
• On Friday 31st October 2014, there were 25 winners
• On Tuesday 31st December 2013, there were 25 winners
• On Friday 26 July 2013, there were 100 winners
• On Friday 31 May 2013, the winner won a total of £12 million (£1 million every month for a year).
• On New Year's Day, 2013 there were 25 Winners
• On Christmas Day 2012 there were 25 Winners
• To celebrate the London 2012 Olympics on 27 July 2012 the drawing had 100 winners.
• Millionaires Month ran from 25 November 2011 through to 23 December 2011, when 50 UK Millionaire Raffle winners were announced over a month-long promotion. On Friday 25 November 2011 the first 18 millionaires were made. Another 7 were made between Tuesday 29 November 2011 and Tuesday 20 December 2011. On Friday 23 December 2011 the last 25 millionaires were made.
• On Tuesday 7 June 2011, there were 15 winners.
• On Christmas Eve 2010 (Friday 24 December 2010) the UK Millionaire Raffle was increased to 25 winners in one evening.

See also

• Eurojackpot - a similar transnational lottery in Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
• Lottery
• Viking Lotto - a similar transnational lottery in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

References

External links

• UK EuroMillions
• Irish National Lottery
• Belgium National Lottery
• Portugal National Lottery
• Spain National Lottery
• Swiss Lottery
• Austrian National Lottery
• Luxembourg National Lottery
• French National Lottery