The EuroMillions Lottery was developed by the Francaise des Jeux in France and the Loterias y Apuestas des Estad in Spain and Camelot in the United kingdom and was created on Saturday February 7, 2004. The first draw took place on Friday February 13, 2004 in Paris. The UK, France and Spain were included initially, but lotteries from Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland soon joined the draw on 8 October 2004.

The EuroMillions lottery, or the Euro lottery as it is commonly known, combines the stakes of all nine participating European countries presenting a tremendous EuroMillions lottery jackpot.

With the number of nations joining the Eu building, this will inevitably lead to new countries participating in the Euro lotto. An increase in the amount of people playing the EuroMillions lottery will lead to an on-going growth of the already giant EuroMillions lottery jackpot.

The jackpot is rolled over every week until it is won giving rise to some sizeable winnings. On 3rd February 2006, after rolling over 11 times, the EuroMillions lottery prize of £125,194,303 was won by three ticket holders (two in France and one in Portugal), making it Europe’s biggest ever lottery prize.

How to play

Every participant selects 5 main numbers which can be any number from 1 to 50 and 2 lucky star numbers which can be any number from 1 to 9. During the draw, 5 main and 2 lucky star numbers are then drawn at random from two draw devices containing numbered balls. The device containing 50 balls is known as Stresa and the one containing nine lucky star balls is known as Paquerette.

Picking Euromillions Lottery Numbers

The chances of picking up the Euromillions lotto prize is a distant 1 in 76,275,360 but the odds of picking up any prize at all are a reasonable 1 in 24. 16 per cent of the prize fund is allocated to a “Booster Fund” which can be used to boost the jackpot prize. The figures for the estimated prize are simply a guide and the actual amount varies according to the total in the prize pot and the number of winners for each prize.

If the jackpot is not collected, it rolls over to the next week. However, if the jackpot is not collected on the twelfth successive week (i.e., eleven rollovers), then the prize is “rolled down” by distributing it between winners of the next level instead of rolling it forward again.

An exception to this rule would have been on the 3rd February 2006, which, if the jackpot had not been won, the prize would have been carried over for a thirteenth week.

New rules brought in on January 4, 2007 and taking effect February 9, 2007 limit the number of consecutive draws to eleven, with the prize rolling down to lower prize levels in the eleventh draw if the jackpot is not won. The new rules also introduced “Event Draws” otherwise known as “Superdraws”, in which there will be a guarantee of the minimum amount which is available to pay prizes in the Match 5 and 2 Lucky Stars Prize Category; if an Event Draw isn’t won it will be rolled down. The initial Event Draw took place on February 9, 2007 for €100m (£66m, 165m sfr) to celebrate the EuroMillions third birthday.

Notable wins

On February 9, 2007, a Man from Belgium won the Euro lottery prize of €100 million ($132 million or £67.9 million) with a ticket acquired in a news agents in Tienen. This is the largest lottery win in Belgium and the second-biggest individual win in EuroMillions history.

By 17 November 2006, after rolling over 11 times, the EuroMillions lottery jackpot reached €183 million ($241 million or £124 million pounds). No ticket matched all the winning numbers for the 12th draw, so the prize was split among the 20 tickets that matched 5 numbers and 1 lucky star number. Every such ticket was worth €9.6 million ($12.6 million). That is 5% of the jackpot plus the regular match 5 +1 prize. 7 of the 20 tickets were sold in the United Kingdom, 4 in France, 3 every in Portugal and Spain, 2 in the Republic of Ireland, and 1 in Belgium.

On the 31st of march 2006, after rolling over 6 times, the EuroMillions lottery prize of €75,753,123 ($100,175,909) was won by one Belgian gentleman, the second largest win ever in Belgium, and the third-biggest prize won by an individual.

On 3 February 2006, after rolling over 11 times, the EuroMillions lottery prize of €180 million ($238 million) was won by three ticket holders, two in France and one in Portugal. The three winners won €60 million ($79 million) each.

On the 31st of July 2005, after rolling over 9 times, the European lotto prize of €115 million ($152 million) was won on a ticket bought in Garryowen, Limerick, Ireland. The winner was Dolores McNamara, mother of six; she remains the biggest individual winner in EuroMillions history. She claimed the prize on 4th August at the Irish National lotto’s offices in Dublin.

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