The Ultimate Guide to Playing the EuroMillions Lottery

The EuroMillions lottery offers the biggest lotto jackpot prizes on the continent. Give yourself a competitive advantage by reading our comprehensive guide to EuroMillions and gather all the information on the most popular pan-European lottery.

What Is the EuroMillions Lottery?

EuroMillions is a transnational European lottery with draws held every Tuesday and Friday. Players pick five main numbers (1-50) and two Lucky Stars (1-12) and can win a jackpot that starts at €17,000,000 and can climb as high as the jackpot cap of €250,000,000, as well as prizes in 12 other prize divisions.

EuroMillions tickets are sold in nine European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

How to Play EuroMillions Online with theLotter

theLotter offers players from around the world the opportunity to participate in different national versions of the EuroMillions lottery online: EuroMillions Spain and Austria EuroMillions.

At theLotter, players can acquire a EuroMillions Subscription to any of the two versions we offer. Subscriptions allow you to automatically enter every draw with your lucky numbers. You'll never have to worry about missing another draw deadline again. If you're not ready for the commitment of a subscription, you can also try out a Multi-Draw package which pre-orders your tickets for a set number of draws.

If you're in it to win it, EuroMillions Syndicates are probably the most lucrative EuroMillions play options, especially if you want to boost your EuroMillions odds. What's more: theLotter's syndicates are exclusive to our site and cannot be played anywhere else - neither online or offline! By joining groups of other online lottery players you are able to joint-purchase a large number of tickets and give your chance of winning the lottery an enormous boost. Buy your EuroMillions tickets today!

What Are EuroMillions Superdraws?

From time to time, the EuroMillions announces a special EuroMillions Superdraw, which replaces the jackpot at the time and instead takes place with a minimum starting guaranteed jackpot of €130 million. The Superdraw is played in exactly the same manner as the regular EuroMillions lottery – players pick five main numbers and two Lucky Stars. If not won, the Superdraw jackpot rolls over and continues to climb as high as its cap of €250 million, similar to the regular EuroMillions. The jackpot, if still not won, remains at that amount for a maximum of four drawings. When is the next EuroMillions Superdraw? Stay tuned for upcoming announcements!

What Are EuroMillions Raffles?

If you love EuroMillions, you’ll love their raffles even more! EuroMillions players are automatically entered into these exciting raffles whenever they're staged. Unlike lottery draws where you select your own numbers, all the tickets sold are assigned a special code or number and there are always guaranteed winners. At theLotter, you don’t have to be from Europe to participate in these exciting raffles- all you have to do is play! Read our EuroMillions raffles guide to learn all about playing and winning these exciting European raffles!

What is EuroMillions Austria Bonus?

When you purchase Austria EuroMillions tickets, in addition to winning the EuroMillions jackpot, you also have the chance of winning the Austrian Österreich Bonus! Introduced in July 2018, this special raffle guarantees Austrian winners a prize of €100,000 in every draw. You can see the Austria EuroMillions results shortly after the draws on Tuesdays and Fridays.

What is the Spain EuroMillions Million Raffle?

Since 2016, Spanish players have been reaping the benefits of the popular El Millón, or “the million”, raffle. As the name suggests, the two winners of the El Millón raffle receive €1 million each! Spanish players are automatically entered into the raffle when they play EuroMillions and you can too when you play at theLotter! Read up on other rewarding lotteries from the Iberian Peninsula through our Spanish lottery guide!

EuroMillions Prize Divisions & Winning Odds

Along with offering some of the biggest jackpots in the world, EuroMillions also has one of the widest prize range with 13 prize divisions players can win from!

How to Win the EuroMillions Jackpot

A EuroMillions player who matches all 5 main numbers plus the two Lucky Star numbers correctly wins the jackpot. If there is no jackpot winner then the first prize money remains in the pot and is added to the jackpot for the next round. There is, however, an upper jackpot limit of €250 million (the "jackpot cap"). All funds that would normally elevate the prize money above the €250 million level are immediately allocated to the next prize category with winners. If the €250 million jackpot is not won four draws in a row, the entire sum is divided up amongst the winners of the next prize category with winners. 

The Top 15 EuroMillions Jackpots

Are EuroMillions Prizes Taxed?

All EuroMillions lottery prizes are paid out tax-free except for Spain EuroMillions. In Spain, there are two tax bands imposed on lottery winnings:

• Tax Band 1: Tax-free up to €40,000.

• Tax Band 2: Any portion of the prize exceeding €40,000 is subject to a tax rate of 20%.

Lucky for players from abroad, citizens of most countries other than Spain are exempt from these tax bands and entitled to a full tax refund in order to prevent double taxation on the winner’s prize. One thing that should be noted is that claiming a tax-refund is the sole responsibility of the winner and must be done through the Spanish tax authorities.

History of the EuroMillions Lottery

The EuroMillions lottery was launched in February 2004 by three participating countries: France, Spain and the UK. Just a few months later (on 8 September 2004, to be precise), six more countries joined the fold: Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland. Since its original establishment, EuroMillions has undergone a few changes. In 2009, a limit to the jackpot tally was introduced (the "cap") and in 2011 the lottery operators launched a second weekly draw on Tuesday nights. The very first EuroMillions draw took place on 13 February 2004. On that momentous night a French lottery player managed to scoop up the first EuroMillions jackpot in history.

In 2006, the EuroMillions operators stipulated that there would be a maximum number of sequential draws in a jackpot life cycle. As a result, from that moment onwards, EuroMillions jackpots could only roll over 10 times (i.e. 11 draws). If there was still no first category winner at draw number 12, then the first category prize money (the jackpot) would be won by the winner(s) in the next winning category.

It didn't take long, however, before this rule was annulled and a new one was put in its place. In November 2009, the EuroMillions lottery introduced an upper limit to its jackpot prize, the so called jackpot cap. Initially this limit was set at €185 million and it was agreed that every time anyone would reach the EuroMillions jackpot limit, the future limit would be €5 million higher. The first time this happened was in July 2011, when the British couple Chris and Colin Weir won a €185 million EuroMillions jackpot. As a result the EuroMillions jackpot cap was increased by €5 million to €190 million.

EuroMillions introduced a Tuesday draw in May 2011. At that time, changes were also made to the game format. A new winning category was introduced for players who correctly match two main numbers and the guessing range of the Lucky Star numbers was increased from 9 to 11 numbers. To celebrate the changes, EuroMillions organised the first of its legendary Superdraws with a €100 million guaranteed jackpot.

In 2012 the rule was amended once again to state that the maximum jackpot would remain at the €190 million level and could only roll over once (and remain at the cap level). If the €190 million EuroMillions jackpot is not won after two draws, the amount gets divided up over the winner(s) in the next winning prize category. Another change made was the addition of the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker raffle which would be open to all entries to the EuroMillions draw on the date on which the raffle takes place. The exciting raffle takes place at specially announced times throughout the year. The European Millionaire Maker raffles in October 2016 and February 2018 each awarded twenty-five winners a €1 million raffle prize.

Starting from 24 September 2016, the Lucky Stars are now chosen from a pool of 12 numbers instead of the previous pool of 11 numbers. The starting guaranteed EuroMillions jackpot has been increased to €17 million. The rule regarding the jackpot cap was amended to state that the maximum jackpot of €190 million would remain for up to four draws and if not won, that amount would be divided up between the winner(s) in the next highest winning prize category.

An interesting side note is the story of the Kosovo refugee who went from having nothing to winning big by claiming a EuroMillions jackpot. A father of four who had immigrated to Belgium, he won a €168 million prize in October 2016.

EuroMillions raised its jackpot cap starting February 2020, immediately setting a €200 million cap. Under its new format, once the €200 million cap is reached for the first time, €10 million will be added to the jackpot cap in the next EuroMillions jackpot cycle, meaning it could roll over as high as €210 million. Once that jackpot cap is reached the EuroMillions jackpot cap will continue to grow in this manner until it reaches the maximum cap of €250 million. As of December 2023, the EuroMillions jackpot is capped at the maximum of €250 million after a single winner from Austria matched a €240 million Superdraw jackpot.

Have theLotter Players Won EuroMillions Prizes?

Many of our players have won EuroMillions prizes of all sizes, from small to life-changing! Here are just a few of of theLotter's biggest EuroMillions winners:
Two of the theLotter players have scored big wins playing EuroMillions online and both of them were just one number away from winning the EuroMillions jackpot. In October 2013, I.K. from Hungary won €489,777 - our biggest EuroMillions prize winner to date. Read theLotter EuroMillions Winners: Hungarian Player Wins €489,777.

A couple from Luxembourg that had been playing at theLotter for over three years won a third prize of €36,694.30 playing the Austrian version of EuroMillions in November 2017. While it is possible to buy EuroMillions tickets online on the Loterie Nationale Luxembourg website, the couple said they were more confident playing EuroMillions at theLotter. Read their story here. 

Instead of a regular prize win, lucky player H.S.L. from South Korea beat out millions when he became the winner of the El Millón €1 million raffle prize. Other players who reached millionaire-status are G.S.E., who won an extraordinary €1.3 million EuroMillions prize from Southeast Europe in October 2021, and J.T. from Finland who walked way with a €1.45 million second-place Superdraw prize!

Learn all about the best European lotteries that you can play online, as well as our guide to the EuroJackpot lottery; and an informative Guide to the Austria Lotto for suggestions of lotteries you probably never considered! If you wish to try another European lottery with smaller prizes but greater odds, play EuroDreams; an exciting lotto with a unique prize structure! EuroDreams is run by the same national lottery organizations that run the EuroMillions lotto.