EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery which creates giant jackpots by pooling the stakes of all the countries taking part. It is drawn twice a week, on a Tuesday and Friday night, and gives players the chance to win great prizes. EuroMillions has a minimum jackpot of €17 million, which regularly rolls over to create top prizes in excess of €100 million.
How to Play Euromillions
There are several different ways to play EuroMillions. Whether you wish to play online or via an authorised retailer, the aim of the game is to match as many of the five main numbers and two Lucky Stars as you can. You must select five main numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars from 1 to 12 to play the game. You can decide whether to choose the numbers yourself or opt for a Lucky Dip, in which case your EuroMillions line will be randomly generated.
As well as playing on your own, there is also the option to join a syndicate. Whether you team up with friends or colleagues or enter an online group, playing in a syndicate is a popular choice as it allows you to own a share of more tickets without having to spend more money to boost your chances of winning.
EuroMillions draws are held in Paris and create thousands of winners across the participating countries in each game. In addition to the jackpot, players can win other prizes by matching anything from two main numbers up to five and one Lucky Star, as illustrated in the table below. The overall odds of winning a prize are approximately 1 in 13.
| Prize Level | How to Win | Odds of Winning |
|---|---|---|
| Jackpot | Match 5 + 2 | 1 in 139,838,160 |
| Tier 2 | Match 5 + 1 | 1 in 6,991,908 |
| Tier 3 | Match 5 | 1 in 3,107,515 |
| Tier 4 | Match 4 + 2 | 1 in 621,503 |
| Tier 5 | Match 4 + 1 | 1 in 31,076 |
| Tier 6 | Match 3 + 2 | 1 in 14,126 |
| Tier 7 | Match 4 | 1 in 13,812 |
| Tier 8 | Match 2 + 2 | 1 in 986 |
| Tier 9 | Match 3 + 1 | 1 in 707 |
| Tier 10 | Match 3 | 1 in 314 |
| Tier 11 | Match 1 + 2 | 1 in 188 |
| Tier 12 | Match 2 + 1 | 1 in 50 |
| Tier 13 | Match 2 | 1 in 22 |
The EuroMillions jackpot rolls over when it is not won and offers an increased amount in the following draw. It can reach a cap of €250 million, but must then be won if it remains at this amount for five draws. If nobody has managed to match all five main numbers plus both Lucky Stars after the fifth draw, then the money will be split between players in the next-highest winning tier.
History of Euromillions
The first EuroMillions draw took place on Friday 13th February 2004. Initially it was only France, Spain and the UK which sold tickets, with Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland joining in October of the same year.
There have been a number of tweaks to the way the game is played since EuroMillions launched, most notably in September 2016 when the number of Lucky Stars was increased to 12 and other changes helped to engineer bigger regular jackpots. A raffle called European Millionaire Maker was also launched in October 2016, guaranteeing that multiple players from across all of the participating countries would become millionaires in special draws held a couple of times a year.
The record for the largest EuroMillions jackpot in history belongs to a single ticket holder from Austria, who scooped €240 million in December 2023.