EuroMillions is a popular lottery that’s been organized in thirteen European countries. In all these countries it’s really easy to participate. In a store you purchase a ticket and pick five numbers from a range of 1-50 and two Lucky Star numbers from a 1-12 range. It’s doesn’t matter which order the numbers have during the draw. You simply need to have the right numbers on your ticket. If your ticket numbers match with those during the draw, you’re the lucky Jackpot winner.
EuroMillions countries
Several European countries organize EuroMillions. It’s an incredibly popular lottery among thousands of players. The EuroMillions countries are the following:
– France
– Belgium
– The United Kingdom
– Switzerland
– Austria
– Andorra
– Portugal
– Spain
– Monaco
– Luxembourg
– Liechtenstein
– Ireland
– Isle of Man
European lottery agencies
Since its establishment, EuroMillions has developed into a big organization. To run things smoothly, it has been decided that every country organizes the lottery itself. So there actually a lot of small EuroMillions organizations. For example, the ‘Camelot Group’ is responsible for the EuroMillions draw in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. The Française des Jeux’ organizes the lottery in France, Monaco and overseas territories while the organization in Austria and Liechtenstein is known as the ‘Österreichische Lotterien’. Other national EuroMillions operators are the following:
– Loterías y Apuestas del Estado: Spain and Andorra
– Departamento de Jogos – Portugal
– An Post National Lottery Company – Ireland
– Loterie Romande – Switzerland
– Loterie Nationale – Belgium
– Loterie Nationale Luxembourg – Luxembourg
Extra lottery games
Most European countries organize their lotteries in the same way. However, some lotteries have extra options that might increase the winning odds or the amount of money. For example, you should try the ‘Millionaire Raffle’ in the United Kingdom’ and the Irish ‘EuroMillions Plus’ game. These games are part of your standard EuroMillions ticket. This is not always the case though. In some cases you need to pay an extra fee, but doesn’t cost you a lot extra.
Buying EuroMillions tickets online
It’s no problem when you’re living in another country. Instead of buying the EuroMillions tickets directly, you should visit online ticket agencies that sell them. The agencies purchase tickets from licensed retailers. Some tickets are only available for residents of a certain country though. For example, you can only buy EuroMillions tickets from the British national lottery operator Camelot if you live in this country. Another difference between the United Kingdom and other European countries is the currency. The United Kingdom uses British pounds, whereas almost all European countries use the Euro.
5 numbers and two stars
EuroMillions is all about 5 numbers and two Lucky Stars. The star numbers have a range from 1 to 11. Two stars need to match with the stars on your ticket. Do you have one or two Stars? Good for you, because in that case you win some nice prize money. Obviously the best result is a match with five standard numbers and the two Lucky Stars. In that case you win the Jackpot! Be on time with buying your EuroMillions tickets though. The store closes at 7:30 p.m on Tuesday and Friday evening. After that you have to wait until the next lottery draw.
EuroMillions draw on television and online
EuroMillions uses 13 prize tiers in total. With two Lucky Stars you win 9 out of 1, so that’s a good score. Hopefully luck will be at your side during the EuroMillions draw every Tuesday and Friday night in the beautiful city of Paris. Don’t forget to put your television on at 21:00 Central European Time! The draws on Friday are more popular because it’s right before the weekend. You can watch the lottery results at BBC One at 10:35. In Ireland there is a live broadcast at RTÉ Two at 11:20 p.m. on Tuesday and at 11.40 p.m. at Friday evening. It’s also possible to check the results online, mostly on the websites of the EuroMillions operators. If you’ve living in the United Kingdom you should go to www.national-lottery.co.uk, for example.
Correlation between money, tickets and visitors
After the draw it becomes clear how much money you’ve won. However, the total amount depends on the number of tickets that are sold and the group of winners. If there are fewer winners, the prize money in a certain tier will be higher. So the ‘worst-case’ scenario is one in which there are lots of winners and not so many ticket sales. In that case the prize money will be low.
Share your prize money
Perhaps you want to share your EuroMillions prize because you’ve purchased the tickets with your friends. Actually, sharing happens a lot in the EuroMillions lottery because the amount of money in a prize tier depends on the number of tickets that are sold. The number of participants before a draw also play an important role. Imagine that you’ve won the Jackpot for example. Good news, but you’re not the only lucky player with matching numbers and the Lucky Stars. There are three other winners. In that case you need to share the 1 million euros. You still keep 3,333,333 euros though, so congratulations!
Rollovers
Sometimes no one wins the EuroMillions Jackpot. In that case it will do a ‘rollover’. It means that other draws will take place before the Jackpot falls. The amount of money will increase until it hits the maximum of 190 million euros. It will be remain at 190 million euros for two draws. Money that exceeds the maximum will be divided among the second prize winners. Is there still no Jackpot? Too bad. In that case it will be shared between players who’ve won the second prize. The Jackpot will start again the minimum of 15 million euros.
Odds of winning
It’s fantastic to win, but how high are your winning chances actually? The odds of winning the Jackpot aren’t very high, namely 116,531,800:1. This doesn’t mean that you don’t stand a chance at all. The past has proven that a EuroMillions Jackpot hit can definitely happen. For example, the biggest Jackpot hit ever took place in 2012 and was worth 190 million euros! The biggest prize in British history was worth 185 million euros, also not bad at all.
Claim your win
So beat the odds and win! There are several ways you can claim your winnings. In the countries that organize the EuroMillions lottery you just need to go to a retailer to claim your prize. However, if you’ve won a certain amount of money it might be necessary to contact the lottery operator and pay a visit to the country. In case of millions of euros you also get financial support. Online players receive their winnings from the agent that purchased the lottery tickets.
EuroMillions is safe, fair and reliable
Don’t worry that the EuroMillions draw isn’t fair or that it can be hacked. The organization uses excellent draw machines and randomly selected balls. Besides that, all the tickets are sold by national lottery organizations with a good reputation. There are also strict rules, procedures and regulations for EuroMillions all over the European continent. However, it’s important to purchase your ticket at an official lottery operator or ticket agency. Look for information about the organization online if you want to be sure it’s safe. Sadly, there is a lot of scam. Some people are being called or e-mailed with the message that they’ve won a lottery prize. This is not genuine! So always be careful and delete the message immediately.
Be on time with claiming your money
You should be on time with claiming your EuroMillions prize, because most countries have a deadline. For example, the claim period in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man is 180 days from the draw date. In Switzerland you have six months, while in Spain and Andorra it’s only 3 months from the draw date. An overview:
Country How many days from draw date
Belgium 140 days
Portugal 90 days
Ireland 90 days
France and Monaco 60 days
Luxembourg 60 days
Austria and Liechtenstein 28 days
UK and Isle of Man 180 days
Spain and Andorra 3 months
Switzerland 6 months
Be aware of the press
Winning a big prize is great. Think about all the things that you can do with this money. A bigger house, a luxurious vacation or maybe even quitting your job… The press has a lot of interest in the Jackpot winners. However, you can decide to stay anonymous. Your personal details will not be shared with the public, but be aware of the fact that journalists can still find you!
Taxes
Besides the press, there’s another thing you need to realize when you’ve won a big prize. In some countries you need to pay tax on the prize money. Luckily most EuroMillions countries don’t use lottery taxes. Switzerland, Spain and Portugal are an exception on this though. In Switzerland taxes are levied on about 35 percent of the prizes. In Spain and Portugal this is about 20 percent. However, in Spain you need to pay taxes on prize money above 2500 euros or more while in Portugal it’s 5000 euro’s or more.