EuroMillions Lottery Guide: History, Drawings, Jackpots, Winnings…
Are you aware that winning the EuroMillions Lottery is one of the easiest and also one of the most difficult ways to become insanely rich? It’s easy because all you have to do is to buy a cheap ticket and wait for the draw.
At the same time, it’s difficult because you have to guess the right numbers and the odds of doing that are slim. Of course, since it’s easy, we can all agree that it’s a good thing to try.
People who are into the lottery are searching for the best methods that can get them closer to the EuroMillions jackpot or the main prize of other lotto games. Experts agree that there are a few methods that can affect the odds of winning, but getting familiar with the lotto game you are playing is crucial for your potential success at it. That’s why it’s a smart idea to read our EuroMillions lottery guide.
- Get familiar with the stats linked to this lotto game
- Discover information that might help you increase the chances of winning
- Explore the history and background of EuroMillions
Don’t forget that you cannot find a bulletproof system that helps lotto players win at EuroMillions. But, if you want to understand how this game works keep reading our guide.
EuroMillions Statistics
Location: Europe
Owner: The national lotteries of 9 European countries
Year Founded: 2004
Play Online: In dozens of countries
Biggest Winning: 250 million euros
Jackpots: Yes
Drawing day: Tuesday and Friday
Total Numbers: 62
Cost per ticket: 2.5 euros/2.5 GBP or 3.5 CHF per line
Number of combinations: 139,838,160
EuroMillions is one of the oldest transnational lotteries in Europe. The drawings associated with this lotto game are held twice a week on Tuesday and Friday. Even though people in nine European countries can buy tickets in official physical stores and play EuroMillions.
Lotto enthusiasts from other countries, where playing this kind of game is allowed, can play EuroMillions too by purchasing tickets online. Just like in many other games of this type, winning the main prize or the jackpot prize is quite difficult.
To make things clearer, we should point out that hitting the jackpot comes with odds of winning set at one in 139,838,160. That’s 0.00000072% in percentages. So, the odds are high by it’s not impossible to win and many people have already managed to get a jackpot.
Another interesting fact is that EuroMillions was launched in 2004 by three national lotteries from the UK, France, and Spain. Nowadays, this lotto game includes nine European countries. With good regular prizes and incredible jackpot prizes, this lotto game deserves your attention.
1. The History of EuroMillions
As we said before, EuroMillions was introduced in 2004. To be more precise, the first draw took place in Paris, France. This first draw was lucky for a French lotto player who won 15 million euros.
A significant change in the gameplay of EuroMillions lotto was introduced in 2011 when the number of jackpot balls (lucky stars) was increased from 9 to 11 and the number of draws was increased from one to two draws per week.
2. How to Play EuroMillions
The good news is that players don’t need any experience or knowledge to start playing EuroMillions and that’s the beauty of this game. If you are a resident of one of the 9 participating countries (The UK, Spain, France, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, and Switzerland) or you happen to be in one of these countries, you should feel free to purchase tickets in regular stores, specialized stores, gas stations, etc. As previously mentioned, the cost of a single line on a ticket is 2.5 euros (or 2.5 GBP or 3.5 CHF depending on your location).
When it comes to the actual gameplay, you should know that this game is very simple. This is what you have to do to start playing EuroMillions.
- Go to a store where you can find EuroMillions tickets and take one
- Select five main numbers (out of 50) and two Lucky Stars/jackpot numbers (out of 12).
- Pay 2.5 euros to validate the ticket
Now all you have to do is to wait for the Tuesday or Friday draw. Of course, you can also buy a ticket online and enter the numbers if you want to. These tickets are sold at specialized lottery websites and the official national lottery sites of the participating countries.
3. Where to Play EuroMillions
The good news for every fan of lottery games is that you don’t have to be a citizen of one of the countries that participate in this lottery game to play and win at EuroMillions. You just have to purchase a lottery ticket (be it over the Internet or in a physical store). If playing lottery games is allowed in your country then you can start playing right away.
EuroMillions started as a game with just one draw per week, but since 2011, this game has draws that are organized twice a week. Both draws take place in Paris at 8:45 pm CET. You can look for results in local newspapers, watch the draws on TV, the official EuroMillions website and other places.
4. How to Win at EuroMillions
This is the first and most important question that every new EuroMillions player asks. This makes sense because after all, we are all playing to win one of the prizes, preferably the jackpot. So, the answer to this question is simple, to win at this lotto game, you must land at least two correct numbers.
To make things simpler, we have created this list that highlights all the possible winning combinations in EuroMillions based on their value:
- 2 main numbers
- 2 main numbers + 1 lucky star
- 1 main number and 2 lucky stars
- 3 main numbers
- 3 main numbers + 1 lucky star
- 2 main numbers + 2 lucky stars
- 4 main numbers
- 3 main numbers + 2 lucky stars
- 4 main numbers + 1 lucky star
- 4 main numbers + 2 lucky stars
- 5 main numbers
- 5 main numbers + 1 lucky star
- 5 main numbers + 2 lucky stars
There’s a minimum guaranteed jackpot win of 17 million euros in this game. This makes it one of the best lotteries in terms of the size of jackpots. In case there’s no winning ticket for the jackpot, a big chunk of the prize is redirected to the next round. But, the maximum jackpot prize can’t go over 250 million euros.
Once you learn these rules and stats, you are probably wondering how to pick the best numbers. Truth be told, there’s no advice that can help you choose these numbers. These are random numbers so it’s better not to overthink when selecting EuroMillions numbers.
5. The EuroMillions Drawing
Every player can watch the live broadcasting of each EuroMillions lotto draw on a variety of television stations available around the globe. But, the drawing itself takes place in Paris, France. Two machines are placed in a TV studio and are watched by a licensed person that monitors the process. Everything goes automatically and you can see the drawn numbers on the screen as they go out of the machines.
6. EuroMillions Results
You can find the latest EuroMillions results in more than one way. For example, many players are checking the results in the stores where they’ve bought their tickets. Of course, if you have access to TV channels that are broadcasting this lotto game you can watch the draw in real-time. Obviously, you should feel free to check the results on the Internet too.
If you prefer the Internet, you have a few options to look for EuroMillions results. For instance, you can check the local newspaper’s web site. Most news portals are sharing information about jackpot prizes. In addition, you might want to visit the official EuroMillions site for this purpose. Remember that this is a place where you can find archived results too.
7. Big Winners in EuroMillions
Winning the jackpot at the EuroMillions lottery will probably cover you for the rest of your life. But, even if you win the lowest prize here, you can use this prize to purchase another ticket to test your luck again.
If you are looking for inspiration to start playing EuroMillions, check our list of big winners in EuroMillions.
Patrick and Frances Connolly
Patrick and Frances Connolly are a couple from Northern Ireland that has won one of the highest prizes at EuroMillions – 115 million GBP in 2019. What’s more interesting is that this was a New Year’s Day draw which means that this was a great start of the year for this couple.
They have played lottery games for many years, but they’ve never won something significant before this mega jackpot. It’s worth mentioning that after they’ve won the prize, this couple has created a list of 50 close people that they will support financially.
Dolores McNamara
This jackpot winner comes from Ireland. She was 50 years old when she won 115 million euros back in 2005. The resident of Limerick, Ireland was sitting at the local pub where she asked her friends to check the lottery numbers.
After confirming that she has won the main prize, there were free drinks for everyone at the pub all night long. Dolores and her family invested the money in real estate. Another fact that should be mentioned is that this woman was not a passionate lotto player and she bought just one ticket while topping up her mobile phone credit.
Colin and Chris Weir
Colin and Chris Weir are a couple from Scotland who won one of the highest prizes at EuroMillions back in 2011. They’ve won 161 million GBP. Chris was a regular lotto player and he checked his numbers on his TV before going to bed in July 2011.
The first four lines on his ticket were very weak with no rewards, but on the fifth line, he circled all the numbers. This couple became popular because they have shared a lot of their fortune in donations.
8. Jackpots at EuroMillions
We can all agree that winning a jackpot at EuroMillions is not a simple task. However, this doesn’t mean that you should give up before you start playing. This is not a game for those who are skeptical by nature. But, for the rest of us, the lottery is one of the best games out there.
The probability of winning a jackpot (5 main and 2 lucky numbers) is 1 in 139,838,160. Those are very slim odds, but a few people have already managed to beat the odds. In addition, you can win decent prizes of around a thousand, twenty thousand or even 200 thousand euros too by making other combos.
We should also mention that all participating countries come with their special EuroMillions draws and provide access to big prizes. These special draws like the Superdraws are available across the continent and they are usually included in the ticket prize.
We should also mention that in six participating countries, EuroMillions rewards are not taxed. The tax rates in non-participating countries are different and depend on the local regulations that you should check before you start playing.
9. Winning EuroMillions Numbers
Truth be told, it is not possible to predict the winning numbers at this game. If it was that easy, the lotteries would go bankrupt and we wouldn’t be able to play games like EuroMillions. Even though it’s all about luck, we should mention that there are a few things that players can do to guess the correct numbers.
Remember that these are not proven methods of predicting winning EuroMillions numbers.
- Stick to the same combinations over and over again. Keep in mind that a strategy like this won’t have any impact on your chances of winning. However, it will be simpler to check the winning numbers and fill out the tickets.
- Buy tickets when the jackpot comes close to the 200 million euros cap. If you take a look at the history of EuroMillions jackpot winnings you will notice that the top prize is usually won more frequently when there are higher amounts in play.
- Choose meaningful dates like birthdays, anniversaries and other special dates to prepare the tickets faster.
Although scientists and mathematicians are unable to find a connection, it turns out that some winning numbers are more common compared to others. For example, number 20 appears almost two times more than number 40.
10. How Much Money Can You Win on EuroMillions Lotto?
So, is it a good idea to play EuroMillions? The simple answer to this question is – YES. If you choose to use a single line ticket, you can lose just a couple of euros. However, even with a small investment like that, you are getting a chance to win millions. Even non-jackpot prizes in this game are good.
Let’s not forget that the top 10 wins in EuroMillions are over 160 million euros each. In addition, the lowest win will bring you more than you have invested in the ticket – 4 euros (in case you’ve used one line).