When it comes to size, EuroMillions is clearly the major lottery name within Europe of that there is absolutely no doubt. EuroMillions’ first jackpot, which was offered across the UK, France, and Spain on February 14th, 2004, was worth a massive €15 million. At this time, the ticket price for a chance to win it all was so low that it took no time for EuroMillions to move to other countries to allow even more people to get in on the action. Before the end of 2007, lotteries from countries such as Ireland, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Portugal and Belgium had also jumped on the EuroMillions bandwagon. Through such rapid growth, this meant that EuroMillions was suddenly one of the world’s largest lotteries, with players chomping at the bit to snap up tickets.
The following takes an in-depth look at EuroMillions and details exactly how you can get involved.
The Basics of EuroMillions
Every Tuesday and Friday at 21:45 CET, EuroMillions draws are held in Paris, with a €15 million guaranteed jackpot for each draw in place. The lotto result becomes comes even more exciting should it rollover to the following week because there is no jackpot winning ticket purchase. If a few weeks go by without a jackpot winner, the size of the jackpot can grow to an astounding sum of around €50 million. Even though it is already an exciting game for millions of people, interest in the lottery reached a fever pitch when the jackpot once grew to a mind-boggling €185 million back in 2011. Excitement abound, it is hard to argue against the fact that when you buy a EuroMillions ticket you are buying a ticket for the most thrilling game in the world that has the lottery results to match.
The Biggest EuroMillions Winners
A number of European multimillionaires have EuroMillions to thank for their windfalls. The most jackpot winners currently come from France, Spain, Portugal and the UK, with Luxembourg noticeably only ever managing a single winner.
Looking at UK-based wins, Colin and Chris Weir won an unbelievable £161,653,000 in 2011, which made them as wealthy as David and Victoria Beckham. To win this, Colin and Chris bought five lucky-pick tickets after the jackpot has not been won in 14 consecutive draws. They discovered their newly found fortune on their fifth ticket at around midnight on the night of the draw. Although not as big a win as the Weirs, Adrian and Gillian Bayford won a huge £148,656,000 after another 14 consecutive rollover draws in August 2012. Once they realised how much they had won, the whole evening was spent online researching how and where they could spend their millions.
It isn’t just within British borders where EuroMillions as a game has proved fruitful. On the May 13th, 2001, a €121,019,633 jackpot was won by 30-year old Spaniard, Francisco Delgado Rodriguez was name of the lucky player, who was a baker at the time. The timing of this couldn’t have been more fortuitous, as Spain was going through some tough economic times at the time of his win. However, not all winners want the world to know of their newfound fortune. An anonymous Portuguese winner won a €190 million jackpot on the October 24th, 2014. Earlier in the same year, a mystery French winner grabbed the entire €72 million jackpot, but what made the win even more remarkable was that the winner donated €50 million to charity.
How to Play EuroMillions
Playing EuroMillions is easy. You just have to choose five numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Star numbers from 1-11. If you don’t have any special numbers, you can use the Lucky Dip feature to secure a random number selection. It is also possible to get an automatic UK Millionaire Maker entry for every line of numbers you play. Seven lines is the most you can play on a single slip, and you are allowed to purchase up to ten slips at any one time.
After you’ve done this, you select which draws and weeks you’d like to play. You are able to play up to four weeks in advance, or you can use Direct Debit and play continuously. EuroMillions tickets can be purchase in-store or online every day from about 8:00am until 11:00pm. Ticket sales for EuroMillions close at 7:30pm on Tuesdays and Fridays for the draw that evening. Tickets for the next draw are available from 9:00pm that same day. To ensure that you are always in the draw, it is recommended to play by Direct Debit.
How to Improve Your EuroMillions Chances
Each day, thousands of new people try their luck at EuroMillions, with most undoubtedly looking for any strategies or tips to increase their chances of securing the right lotto result. You can try “Googling” phrases such as “guaranteed winnings at EuroMillions” or “How can I win EuroMillions?”, but these will provide little, if any, real help. The winning EuroMillions numbers are randomly selected, which means that there is absolutely no way to predict the winning numbers; however, you can pick numbers more effectively to increase your chances of winning. Here are a few tips to help you on your way to selecting the winning EuroMillions numbers.
- Don’t focus purely on the jackpot. This is because there is also a selection of sub-jackpots available whenever you play EuroMillions. By simply putting all your eggs in one basket when it comes to this game you really are walking along the path to disappointment.
- If the game looks to be too expensive for you, you can register with your family, friends, and colleagues to play together under a syndicate. The result of this is that game costs are now divided up between whomever is involved, and again, your chances of winning will increase. Also, as they say, it’s more fun to play with friends.
- If you really are only interested in winning the jackpot, then try waiting until the jackpot is at the right amount and then play. As you probably already know, if the jackpot is higher, then the other in-game prizes are also higher. This means that even if you don’t hit the jackpot, you might have enough winning numbers to secure alternative bumper payout.
- Persistence will always be rewarded in the end. Your hard work will pay off if you are a regular weekly EuroMillions player. It is actually a fact that people who regularly play EuroMillions each week win something at least twice a year. Besides that, it also comes down to the old saying, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Europe’s Biggest Lottery Comes Alive!
It’s massive; it’s crazy, and it is probably the greatest lottery in the world today. It’s clear that anything can happen when playing EuroMillions, with the game having a history of record-breaking payouts to prove it. Any player who wants to experience lottery play at its most thrilling certainly needs cast his or her eye over towards the game that has the whole of Europe talking. Plus, if you take the above advice to heart, there’s no reason why your chances of winning can’t be increased.