EuroMillions Game Enhancements

EuroMillions Game Enhancements 2020

The National Lottery, along with its nine other European partners who operate the EuroMillions game, are announcing some exciting changes to the EuroMillions game which will allow jackpots to grow bigger and faster.

  • There will be a change to the distribution of the overall prize fund for the game with an increased percentage being allocated to the Top Jackpot prize and a lower percentage being allocated to the lower tier prizes. This change allows the main jackpot to grow faster, instead of taking nine to 10 draws to reach a jackpot of €100 million, it is estimated that the jackpot will reach €100 million in seven to eight draws, approximately a four-week period.
  • In addition, the current Jackpot cap of €190 million will be raised to €200 million and increasing up to a maximum of €250 million using a new cap mechanism. Once the €200 million jackpot is won, the cap for the next cycle will be increased by €10 million to €210 million. The same mechanism will be applied up to a €250 million new maximum cap.
  • The changes will also enable the EuroMillions community to hold more frequent Jackpot promotional event draws with Guaranteed Mega Jackpots of around €130 million in each draw. On average, there are currently two of these special event draws every year and the new game will see this increase to an average of three such draws per year.

The above changes will come into effect from 1st February. The first draw to include these game enhancements will take place on Tuesday 4th February.

But don’t worry there is;

  • NO change to the price – Still €2.50 per line 
  • NO change to the number of balls and stars to match – Still 5 balls from 50 and 2 stars from 12
  • NO change to Ireland Only Raffle – Still 10 guaranteed winners of €5,000 per draw
  • NO change to the average payout percent – Still at 50% of sales paid out in prizes
  • NO change to the win odds – Still a 1 in 13 chance of winning a prize on EuroMillions
  • NO change to the Plus Game – Still €1 to play and €500,000 top prize
  • NO change to funding Good Causes  – Approx. 30% of EuroMillions sales in Ireland will still go to fund local Good Causes around the country

 

So what does that mean for the prizes from February 4th?

The table below provides a quick reference for pre and post changes to prize levels:

All euro values shown are averaged estimates only and will vary depending on the draw sales and number of winners.

How to Win Match Win Odds (No Change) EuroMillions Pre February 2020 New EuroMillions Post February 2020
% of Prize Fund Estimated € Win % of Prize Fund Estimated € Win

5 Numbers 2 Stars

139,838,160

43.2% or 27%*

€17m minimum

50% or 42%* €17m minimum

5 Numbers 1 Star

6,991,908

3.95%

€303,798

2.61% €200,738

5 Numbers 0 Star

3,107,515

0.92%

€31,448

0.61% €20,851

4 Numbers 2 Stars

621,503

0.45%

€3,076

0.19% €1,299

4 Numbers 1 Star

31,075

0.48%

€164

0.35% €120

3 Numbers 2 Stars

14,125

0.67%

€104

0.37% €58

4 Numbers 0 Star

13,811

0.38%

€58 0.26% €40

2 Numbers 2 Stars

985

1.75%

€19

1.30% €14
3 Numbers 1 Star

706

1.85% €14 1.45% €11

3 Numbers 0 Star

314 3.50% €12 2.70% €9

1 Number 2 Stars

188 4.95% €10 3.27% €7

2 Numbers 1 Star

49 14.85% €8 10.30% €6

2 Numbers 0 Star

22 18.25% €4 16.59% €4

Prize Seeding Fund**

N/A 4.8% or 21% N/A 10% or 18% N/A


*% allocation to jackpot (5 Numbers 2 Stars) is variable dependent on jackpot cycle. Combined Jackpot and Prize Seeding Fund will always equal 60% of the total prize pool under the new game. 

**Prize Seeding Fund allows the community to guarantee the starting jackpot of €17 million for any EuroMillions roll and to provide for funding of promotional events such as a guaranteed €130 million Megadraw etc.

For more details see rules.