EuroMillions

A map of the countries that participate in EuroMillions. Blue are the original countries and red are the countries that subsequently joined.

EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery, launched by the Française des Jeux in France, the Loterías y Apuestas del Estado in Spain and Camelot in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2004. The first draw took place on Friday 13 February 2004 in Paris. Initially only the UK, France and Spain were involved, but lotteries from Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland subsequently joined the draw on 8 October 2004.

Draws are held every Friday night, and take place in Paris. A standard EuroMillions ticket costs €2.00, £1.50 or CHF3.20 per line played, or €3.00 if one plays with the "Plus" option (available only in the Republic of Ireland). This is the standard price in all the countries mentioned above. Prizes, aside from the jackpot, are sized according to participation per country.

All prizes, including the jackpot, are tax exempt, except in Switzerland, and are paid in lump sum.

Play

• The player selects five main numbers which can be any integer from 1 to 50;
• The player selects two lucky star numbers which can be any integer from 1 to 9.

Additionally several multiple bet options are available^[specify].

During the draw, five main and two lucky star numbers are then drawn at random from two draw machines containing numbered balls. The machines containing fifty balls is called Stresa, and the one containing nine is the Paquerette

There are several sites and applications available to help bettors check results (e.g. The National Lottery^[1] site), statistics and even random number generators that allow players to bet (e.g. iEuroMillions for the iPhone/iPod^[2]).

Who can play

• Any person 18 or over, may differ in some countries, such as 16 in the UK.^[3]
• The game is currently available to players in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Players must be a permanent resident in a member country in order to purchase a ticket in the country and in order to collect a prize.
• Syndicated online lottery vendors exist for users who do not have access to kiosks.

Prize structure^[4]

A UK Euromillions ticket with a set of numbers for the draw, generated by "lucky dip".

The booster fund is available to contribute to the jackpot, for example to boost the initial jackpot in a sequence of growing jackpots. The amount utilised each week is determined in advance by the participating lotteries.

• The odds of winning any prize at all are 1 in 24.
• The odds of getting none of the 50 main balls but getting both lucky stars is approximately 1 in 62, which is less likely than getting 2 main balls and one lucky star (1 in 39). However, there is no prize for only getting 2 lucky stars.
• 6% of the prize fund is allocated to a "Booster Fund" which can be used to boost the jackpot prize.
• The figures for estimated prize are just a guide, and the actual amount varies according to the total in the prize fund and the number of winners for each prize. (Estimated prizes as per reverse of UK playslip)
• If the Jackpot is not won, it rolls over until the following week. However, if the jackpot is not won on the twelfth successive week (i.e., eleven rollovers), then the jackpot prize is "rolled down" by distributing it between winners of the next level instead of rolling it forward again.^[5]
  • Note: An exception to this rule would have occurred on 3 February 2006,^{[citation needed]} which, if the jackpot had not been won, the jackpot would have been carried over for a thirteenth week^{[citation needed]} (at which point it would have rolled down, if not won on 10 February 2006).^{[citation needed]} This exception occurred due to the timing of the introduction of the roll-down rule.
• New rules introduced on 4 January 2007, that took effect on 9 February 2007 limit the number of consecutive draws to eleven, with the jackpot rolling down to lower prize levels in the eleventh draw if the jackpot is not won.
• The new rules also introduced "Event Draws" also referred to 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.^[6] The first Event Draw was held on February 9, 2007 for €100m (£66m, 165m sfr) to celebrate the Euromillions third birthday. A second "Superdraw" took place on February 8 2008 for €130 Million (£95 Million) to celebrate the Euromillions fourth birthday.

Notable wins

Distribution of revenue

In the UK, the total Euromillions revenue is broken down as follows:^[12]

EuroMillions Plus (Ireland only)

In June 2007, with the success of the main Euromillions game, the Irish National Lottery launched Euromillions Plus. For an extra €1 per line players could enter the additional draw with the top prize each week of €500,000. Sales of the main EuroMillions in Ireland for 2006 were over €145million; this success led to the introduction of 'Plus'.

Belgian Winner Profiles Scandal

In June 2009, a Belgian newspaper claimed the National Lottery made up the profiles it announces of the EuroMillions winners^[13]. The names of Belgian winners are not normally released, except for a summary profile such as "a woman in her forties with two children." The newspaper claimed these profiles were entirely made up for commercial reasons, to make them more identifiable to the majority of players. For example, one winner who was an elderly woman from Blankenberge was turned into "a family with three children from Gent." A high-placed former employee claimed he was ordered to make up the profiles^[14], while the directors of the lottery claimed no such order was ever given.^[15] Simultaneously, there were claims that the National Lottery had covered up a major case of fraud in which sellers of tickets had swapped winning tickets for losing ones, keeping the earnings to themselves; though it was not clear whether this involved any winning EuroMillions tickets as well.^[16] The National Lottery admitted there was such a case of fraud, but said it was a very minor case only involving a single ticket worth 2.5 EUR.^[17]

See also

• Camelot Group
• Lottery
• National Lottery (Ireland)

References

External links

• Euromillions (UK Playslip) website
• EuroMillions (Ireland) website
• EuroMillions (Belgium) website (French) & (Dutch)
• Euromillions (France) website
• Euromillionen (Austria) website
• EuroMillions (Spain) website (Spanish)
• EuroMillions (Portugal) website (Portuguese)