EuroMillions is one of the biggest lottery draws in the world, which is currently played across 13 European countries and territories and boasts some of the biggest jackpots to have ever been won.
It is a twice-weekly lottery draw but in a smart move to avoid going head-to-head with the biggest of the world’s lottery draws, the EuroMillions draws take place on a Tuesday and Friday night from Paris, France rather than the traditional Wednesday and Saturdays.
To play the EuroMillions lottery draw you need to pick seven numbers from two separate pools. You must pick five numbers from the first pool, which ranges from 1 to 50 and two from the second pool (Lucky Stars), which ranges from 1 to 12. To win the EuroMillions jackpot, which starts in value at €17,000,000 you must match all seven numbers but there are still some huge prizes up for grabs for matching six of the seven numbers, especially if five of them are from the main pool of balls. In total, there are 13 ways to win a prize of one kind or another.
Pick five main numbers from 1 to 50.
Pick two Lucky Stars number from 1 to 12.
Choose the draw day you want to play.
Check the draw results on Tuesdays & Fridays.
With the odds of winning any prize at 1 in 13, you can see why EuroMillions is one of the most popular European lotteries around. Throughout its history, EuroMillions has consistently paid out on prizes over €185,000,000, with some draws even hitting and exceeding the €190,000,000 jackpot cap.
The EuroMillions cap is a clause in the rules of the draw that prevents the jackpot from exceeding €190,000,000. If the jackpot cap is reached and no ticket holders win the top prize, the money from the jackpot prize pool is divided between the 5 + 1 Lucky Star winners.
| Numbers Matched | Average Payouts (€) |
|---|---|
| 5 + 2 Lucky Stars | Jackpot |
| 5 + 1 Lucky Star | €265,445.64 |
| 5 | €27,477.87 |
| 4 + 2 Lucky Stars | €2,688.02 |
| 4 + 1 Lucky Star | €143.30 |
| 4 | €90.87 |
| 3 + 2 Lucky Stars | €50.44 |
| 2 + 2 Lucky Stars | €16.54 |
| 3 + 1 Lucky Star | €12.47 |
| 3 | €10.49 |
| 1 + 2 Lucky Stars | €8.85 |
| 2 + 1 Lucky Star | €6.99 |
| 2 | €3.84 |
The EuroMillions doesn't have the shortest odds in the world when it comes to winning the jackpot, coming in at around 139 million to 1, compared to 14 million to 1 for the SA Lotto but this is more than compensated for by the massive jackpots on offer and also by the great chance you have of winning any prize, which is just 13 to 1.
All EuroMillions prizes are paid out on a pari-mutuel basis, which means that the numbers of tickets sold for a draw and the number of winners per prize tier are used to calculate the value of prizes paid out in each tier. The EuroMillions jackpot starts in value at a massive €17,000,000 and climbs every draw that it isn’t won.
50% of all ticket revenue is allocated to the prize pool, which is then distributed using the calculations below. The remaining 50% is kept and distributed by each ticket selling territory, typically for operator profits, running costs, commission for retailers, tax and duty, good causes and other charitable causes.
| Numbers Matched | Odds Of Winning |
|---|---|
| 5 + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 139,838,160 |
| 5 + 1 Lucky Star | 1 in 6,991,908 |
| 5 | 1 in 3,107,515 |
| 4 + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 621,503 |
| 4 + 1 Lucky Star | 1 in 31,076 |
| 4 | 1 in14,126 |
| 3 + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 13,812 |
| 2 + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 986 |
| 3 + 1 Lucky Star | 1 in 707 |
| 3 | 1 in 314 |
| 1 + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 188 |
| 2 + 1 Lucky Star | 1 in 50 |
| 2 | 1 in 22 |
If you’re lucky enough to match all five main lottery balls and the two Lucky Stars against the numbers on your ticket you will win all or a share of the jackpot, which could be any size between €17,000,000 and €190,000,000, which is the capped limit. Don’t worry if you don’t manage to defy odds of over 100 million to 1 to win the jackpot because there are 12 other prize tiers to play for as well.