What is The EuroMillions and how is it different?
The biggest selling point and feature of the EuroMillions is the fact that it spans across borders. There are currently 13 independent nations that participate in the lottery, which is a comedically unfortunate number, due to the connotations with bad luck that the number represents. This broad scope does however lend itself to a very large player-base, as well as having the advantage of being widely available across all participating nations.
In 2020 the EuroMillions jackpot ceiling was increased to €200 million, whereafter a further €10 million is added to the cap after somebody wins the ultimate prize. This will then reset the jackpot to a starting figure of €17 million. There has been one lucky grand winner since this was introduced, meaning that the cap currently stands at €210 million. Draws occur every Tuesday and Friday at 20:45 CET, which is pretty frequent considering that many other lotteries tend to stick to a single weekly draw.
How to play – EuroMillions rules
Learning how to play the EuroMillions is easy for anybody. Just like any other lotteries, there is minimal player input, which can essentially be condensed into two different choices. Your first choice will be the numbers you pick on each ticket. The second choice simply being how many tickets you want to buy. Each ticket has two tables of numbers labeled between 1 and 50 with the other table ranging from 1 to 12. You have five numbers to choose from the 50 in the larger table, while the smaller table represents your two Lucky Star picks. This is where the EuroMillions rules add another layer to traditional lotteries. The Lucky Star numbers are selected from a separate machine, but are still required to complete a full line of the seven numbers required for the top prize.
Tickets can be purchased every day, although there are time brackets to keep in mind. Purchasing a ticket online is available for all between 06:00 and 23:00 CET on each day, except for Tuesdays and Thursdays, as they are the draw days. Tickets must be purchased before 19:30 CET on a draw day.
Payouts
The payout system of the EuroMillions is made relatively simple, due to the omission of many standard lottery rules that are usually present. All winners, including a jackpot winner, will receive the entire prize as a lump sum. This is opposed to lotteries often giving the choice of paying through installments or offering a reduced lump sum prize. Winnings are taxed in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, although winners residing in other participating nations are not subject to a tax on their winnings.
Due to the aforementioned jackpot ceiling, the record for the biggest EuroMillions win currently stands at €200 million, which was achieved by one lucky winner back in 2020. The record before this was €190 million. So, you can see that the top prize remains consistent, only increasing when the previous limit has been won. It isn’t just all about the jackpot though. Prizes are issued to those correctly picking at least two regular numbers. Of course, the payout isn’t quite as grand and will vary depending on the grand jackpot amount. It’s quite nice to know that you don’t need to be insanely lucky to get something out of the EuroMillions though.
EuroMillions strategies and other helpful tips
There is no airtight EuroMillions strategy, however, there are certain useful considerations to keep in mind when picking your number. For instance, numbers between one and 31 are more commonly picked, due to it being linked to people’s birthdays, increasing the likelihood that winning ticket holders would therefore have to share with more participants.
GoodLuckMate’s best tips for playing The EuroMillions are:
- Buying more tickets will increase your chances BUT…
- Make sure you have a budget in mind before playing and stick to it
- Forming syndicates allows groups of people to purchase more tickets
- Systemic entries allow you to purchase and cover more lines to increase your chance of hitting a prize
- Check out number picking systems like the Pyramid Plan and Soul Path methods
House edge – what are your chances of winning?
Winning the grand prize is extremely unlikely with odds being calculated at around one in 140,000,000. This is much lower than the US Powerball that sits at one around in 302,000,000, but this is also reflected by a lower top prize. To put these into perspective, the chances of being struck by lightning is one in 500,000. Nonetheless, most people have their sights set high, as the probabilities remain the same across all participants. The actual odds of winning any prize in each round is around one in 13, which is much more palatable. New mechanics have also been introduced to affect the odds and add further depth to making selections. Combo bets allow participants to pick more than the usual seven numbers to combine different lines into one bet.
Play The EuroMillions at online casinos
Generally speaking, you won’t be finding any EuroMillions casino online, as it is owned and run by a conglomeration of lottery organizations. You can however find a variety of more lottery-centric websites that offer up a variety of different purchasing options for tickets in various lotteries, including the EuroMillions. These sites provide access to free EuroMillions online tickets and show a clear user interface for selecting your numbers with easy editing tools.
You can find a variety of other lotteries at online casinos, which tend to be much smaller in scale, yet still big enough to be enticing. Rather than hosting national or international lotteries, these sites will instead usually offer network or platform lotteries to customers with a registered account. Be sure to check out our GoodLuckMate casino reviews to find online casinos that offer lotteries.
Live dealer games vs RNG games
As mentioned above, the EuroMillions is its own entity and has not spawned any further iterations or offshoots. Lottery and Keno variants found at online casinos will be offered in live dealer or RNG formats with each game or table having specific payout rules. Random number generator (RNG) algorithms are used to create virtual games with truly random outcomes, which allows players to wager against the computer. Live dealer games instead employ streaming technology to give players a live feed to a studio and presenter hosting the game. If you wish to just stick with the EuroMillions though, you can buy tickets at a local shop, authorized reseller sites and EuroMillions’ own website.
