Launched by the Française des Jeux in France, the Euro Lottery is called EuroMillions and is a pan-European lottery. The concept for EuroMillions was launched in the UK by Camelot on Saturday, February 7th 2004, with the first every draw taking place in Paris on Friday February the 13th 2004. For all the early EuroMillion draws that followed only the UK, Spain and France took part, but the lotteries from countries such as Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Switzerland were quick to join, with the first draws in which they took part on the 8th of October of that year.
Where Is It Held?
The EuroMillions draw is held on Friday nights in Paris, France. This can be watched on television in the UK on the BBC One channel, in a special EuroMillions show hosted by Tim Vincent and Sarah Catwood from 11:35pm GMT.
If you do not have a television, or simply cannot wait, the results of the EuroMillions draw can also be viewed online, from approximately 10:00pm GMT and many newspapers will also print the results the day after the draw.
How Much Does It Cost?
Each ticket costs €2.00 (two Euros) per line played, or €3.00 for a ticket with the bonus "Plus" option, which is only available in the Republic of Ireland. Each country that has not adopted the Euro has a set price based on the exchange rate to the Euro, with the cost here in the UK set at £1.50 per line.
How Does it Work?
To play EuroMillions, a player must mark their ticket with 5 main numbers which may be any number from 1 to 50 (but not duplicate numbers) and also two "Lucky Star" numbers, which act as bonus balls, which can be any number from 1 to 9.
The EuroMillions draw will pick the 5 main numbers at random from one machine containing the fifty balls, called Stresa, then the two Lucky Star numbers from two seperate additional machines which are named Paquerette.
Who Can Play?
In most of the European countries that participate in Euromillions, only players that are 18 years old or over may play. In the UK, this restriction is lower, in that players may be 16.
Syndicates are also available on-line that provide people with the ability to play that may not have access to the EuroMillions kiosks.
What Are The Odds of Winning?
The overall odds of winning a prize in the Euromillions lottery draw are 1 in 24. Although EuroMillions is part of the National Lottery games group in the UK, all the prizes at every prizes level are part of a pooling system, which is then shared between all the winning players in the countries that have participated. If no-one in any of the playing countries have matched all the 5 main numbers and the 2 Lucky Star numbers, then the jackpot money will "roll-over" to the next week, making the main jackpot prize for that week even larger.
How is the Prize Money Calculated?
Depending on how many tickets sold and the amount of people that match the same numbers, the prize money for each winning tier will vary. 50% of all ticket sales are, on average, paid on in prizes on a Euromillions game. In every draw, up to 6% of this prize fun will be placed into a fund which supplements future jackpots, to ensure a fairly even prize amount week to week.
How is the Prize Money Awarded?
The National Lottery handled the prize money in the UK, and will pay the winnings to a lucky player via their debit card, except in cases where winnings exceed £5,000. In this case, the player must claim it by ringing the National Lotteries Interactive Customer Care team, on telephone number 0845 278 8000, and arrangements will be made to pay the sum via cheque.