In the EuroMillions Superdraw that kicked off on the 30th of September, 2016 with a jackpot of €130 000 000 there was no winner. Then it rolled over again on Tuesday. That means the jackpot is now sitting at an incredible €156 000 000!
Rollovers make lotteries more exciting. As the jackpot gets bigger, more people are motivated to buy lottery tickets. And that also increases the size of the jackpot.
A very similar thing happened with the Powerball in January 2016. As the jackpot grew, queues of people formed outside lottery retailers and it seemed as if the whole world was buying Powerball tickets. What you didn’t see in the news were the people buying Powerball tickets online. But every ticket purchased contributed to that record-breaking $1 600 000 000.
Although, many will say that what really contributed to this massive jackpot were the changes to the format of the game. These changes were made to create bigger jackpots. Unfortunately, it also meant that your odds of winning a Powerball jackpot went up.
The EuroMillions has also recently changed its format. In fact, that’s the reason why this EuroMillions Superdraw is taking place. Along with an increase in the ticket price, players now have select their five main numbers from 1-50 as usual and two Lucky Stars from 1-12, one up from the previous 1-11. This change has been made in order to increase the number of jackpots over €50 000 000. That’s good news for fans who want to play for big prizes. But, the EuroMillions still has a jackpot cap of €190 000 000, so it won’t break the jackpot record set by the Powerball.
There are only two occasions where the EuroMillions jackpot reached its cap. The first time it happened was in August 2012, when a couple from the UK were the lucky tickets holders. At the time, Adrian and Gillian Bayford’s prize was worth £148 600 000. But surprisingly, they aren’t considered the biggest EuroMillions winners in the history of the game. That title belongs to Chris and Colin Weir from Scotland. In 2011, the couple scooped a €185 000 000 EuroMillions jackpot. But, given the favourable exchange rate they came away with £161 000 000, slightly more than Adrian and Gillian’s prize.
Then, in 2014 an anonymous player from Portugal won the jackpot at its €190 000 000 cap. For the last two years, only a few EuroMillions jackpots have come close to the jackpot cap. Now that the rules of the game have changed, it’s possible that the jackpot could reach its cap for a third time. Considering that this Superdraw started off with a jackpot €30 000 000 more than the regular Superdraw jackpot of €100 000 000, anything is possible.
And now to answer the question of what happens if nobody wins the EuroMillions jackpot once it’s reached €190 000 000. With no winner, the jackpot will remain at this level for two more draws. And, if it isn’t won, the prize rolls down to be shared amongst the players in the next prize tier. That means you could win a record EuroMillions jackpot for matching five main numbers and one Lucky Star.
With a total of 13 prize tiers altogether, your odds of winning any prize in the EuroMillions lottery are 1 in 13. Your odds of winning a EuroMillions jackpot are considerably higher at 1 in 139,838,160. But don’t let that put you off. Your odds of winning the second tier prize are considerably more reasonable at 1 in 6,991,908. That certainly makes it worth your while to get a ticket for the next EuroMillions draw.
You can buy tickets for the EuroMillions from any authorised lottery retailer in any of the nine participating countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. But if you’re not in Europe, you can buy EuroMillions online. All you need to do is find a legitimate online lottery ticket website that offers the EuroMillions. Anyone can play the EuroMillions, and if you so win the jackpot, your lottery agent will help you make arrangements to collect your prize in person.
Buying lottery tickets online is a bit pricier because agents have to charge a small fee for their services. But it’s still more affordable for foreign players whose only other option is to fly to Europe. So if you’re following the progress of the latest EuroMillions Superdraw, and you’re feeling lucky, why not buy EuroMillions online. There’s no telling when the jackpot will be won, so don’t hold off. Get your tickets before the next draw takes place and hold thumbs. The EuroMillions is about to make another multi-millionaire, and it could be you.
