The EuroMillions lottery was originally devised by the national lotteries of France, Spain and the United Kingdom and was launched in early February 2004. The first draw was on Friday the 13th of February 2004 in Paris. The United Kingdom, France and Spain were the only European states participating initially but lotteries from Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland also became involved in October 2004.
The EuroMillions or the Euro lottery, as it is commonly known, pools the ticket sales of the nine partaking European nations resulting in a considerable EuroMillions lottery jackpot. With the amount of nations joining the EU rising, this will undoubtedly lead to new states participating in the EuroMillions lotto. A rise in the quantity of people participating in the EuroMillions lottery will lead to a further increase of the already huge EuroMillions lottery jackpots.
How To Play The Euro Millions Lottery
Each participant is required to pick 5 main numbers from 1 to 50 and 2 “Lucky Star” numbers from 1 to 9. During the draw, 5 main and 2 lucky star numbers are then picked at random from two draw machines containing numbered balls.
How The Prizes Are Allocated
The chances of grabbing the Euro Millions jackpot is a remote 1 in 76 million but the odds of winning a cash prize is a reasonable achievable 1 in 24. If no one matches the drawn numbers to win the jackpot in a given week, it rolls over to the next week which results in an ever growing Euro Millions prize fund. New rules brought in during February 2007 restrict the amount of successive “rollovers” to eleven, with the jackpot rolling down to lower prize levels in the eleventh draw if the prize is not won.
The new rules also introduced Euro lotto “Super Draws” which happen twice every year and offer jackpots in the region of £100 million. The difference with “Super Draws” is that the jackpot must be won the night of the draw; therefore, if there is no ticket matching all the drawn numbers then the jackpot will be rolled down to the next winning prize tier.
Notable Euro Millions Wins
• On the 8th of February 2008, the “Super Draw” jackpot of €130 million was collected by 16 people who matched the 5 main numbers and 1 “Lucky Star” number.
• In August 2007, a 40 year old former Royal Mail postal officer from Scotland collected a Euro lottery jackpot of €52.6 million. Up to now, this is the largest lottery win yet in the United Kingdom.
• In November 2006, having rolled over eleven times, the Euro Millions jackpot reached €183 million and was divided between 20 blessed ticket purchasers.
EuroMillions Playing Options
Typically, to participate in the EuroMillions lotto you would have to be a resident of one of the nine participating member countries. However, with the launch of lottery ticket sales agents you can now buy your desired quantity of Euro Millions lottery tickets via the web in spite of where you are located around the world. If you are looking for a boost in your lottery winning odds, you may also consider signing up to an e-Lottery EuroMillions syndicate. As a participant in a Euro syndicate you play with a 36 times better opportunity of securing the jackpot when compared to all those people purchasing tickets in the normal manner. With e-Lottery there are very few geographic barriers preventing members from joining and as a result the present membership is made up of persons from no fewer than 133 worldwide nations.
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