September 2016 – EuroMillions Overhaul
September 2016 saw sweeping changes made to the EuroMillions format, including the introduction of new supplementary games in six countries and a €2 million increase to the minimum jackpot. The price of entry was increased as follows:
| Austria | €2.00 | €2.20 |
| Belgium | €2.00 | €2.50 |
| Ireland | €2.00 | €2.50 |
| Luxembourg | €2.00 | €2.50 |
| Portugal | €2.00 | €2.50 |
| Spain | €2.00 | €2.50 |
| Switzerland | CHF3.00 | CHF3.50 |
| UK | £2.00 | £2.50 |
The price change covered the cost of new raffles and supplementary games implemented across Europe. With the new games came the introduction of a Europe-wide raffle event, the European Millionaire Maker. The first European Millionaire Maker raffle took place on Friday 28th October 2016, with 25 winning codes selected.
Another big change was the introduction to the game of a 12th Lucky Star; the odds of winning in each prize tier changed as a result:
| Match 5 + 2 Stars | 1 in 116,531,800 | 1 in 139,838,160 |
| Match 5 + 1 Star | 1 in 6,473,989 | 1 in 6,991,908 |
| Match 5 | 1 in 3,236,995 | 1 in 3,107,515 |
| Match 4 + 2 Stars | 1 in 517,920 | 1 in 621,503 |
| Match 4 + 1 Star | 1 in 28,774 | 1 in 31,076 |
| Match 3 + 2 Stars | 1 in 11,771 | 1 in 14,126 |
| Match 4 | 1 in 14,387 | 1 in 13,812 |
| Match 2 + 2 Stars | 1 in 882 | 1 in 986 |
| Match 3 + 1 Star | 1 in 654 | 1 in 707 |
| Match 3 | 1 in 327 | 1 in 314 |
| Match 1 + 2 Stars | 1 in 157 | 1 in 188 |
| Match 2 + 1 Stars | 1 in 46 | 1 in 50 |
| Match 2 | 1 in 23 | 1 in 22 |
| The overall odds of winning a prize remained at 1 in 13. |
The UK’s popular ‘Mega Friday’ promotional draw – which saw multiple £1 million raffle prizes and luxury non-cash prizes awarded on the last Friday of each month – also saw a major change. The event was expanded to offer prizes in two consecutive draws and was renamed ‘Mega Week’.
All changes came into effect as of Saturday 24th September 2016, with the very first Mega Week beginning on Tuesday 27th September. Ten raffle prizes of £1 million plus a 100-day round-the-world trip were given out, and a special €130 million Superdraw took place on Friday 30th September. Mega Week ran for nine months, with the last Mega Week draws taking place on Tuesday 25th and Friday 28th June 2017.
Changes Summary (General)
- Minimum jackpot increased from €15 million to €17 million
- European Millionaire Maker raffle introduced
- Ticket price increased in all participating countries
- The number of draws in which the jackpot could stay at its cap before triggering a rolldown increased from two to five
- Number of Lucky Stars increased from 11 to 12, resulting in a change to the odds of winning individual prizes
Changes Summary (UK)
- UK Mega Friday transformed into Mega Week, an occasional event that offered multiple Millionaire Maker prizes, and non-cash prizes including luxury holidays
- Number of UK Millionaire Maker prizes offered per draw increased from one to two. The chances of winning improved from 1 in 4.8 million to 1 in 1.9 million for a Tuesday draw, and from 1 in 7.5 million to 1 in 2.95 million for a Friday draw
Changes Summary (Rest of Europe)
- ‘Ireland Only Raffle’ supplementary game introduced to Ireland, offering ten €5,000 prizes every draw
- ‘The Million’ supplementary raffle introduced to Spain, offering a €1 million prize every Friday
- ‘My Bonus’ supplementary raffle introduced to Belgium, offering 600 prizes of €500 and one prize worth €1 million every week
- ‘M1lhão’ supplementary raffle introduced to Portugal, offering a €1 million prize every Friday
- ‘2. Chance’ supplementary draw introduced to Switzerland, offering players the chance to win up to CHF150,000 using their main EuroMillions numbers
- ‘Etoile+’ add-on game introduced in France, offering increased prizes and additional prize tiers for matching Lucky Stars
Prize Amounts and Statistics
Here is how the EuroMillions prize fund is distributed across each of the 13 prize tiers. The table also shows statistics for the highest and lowest amount ever given away in each category, along with the highest and lowest number of winners in each tier.
| Match | % Prize Fund | Odds of Winning | Lowest Ever Prize Amount | Highest Ever Prize Amount | Average Prize Amount Per Draw | Lowest Ever Winners | Highest Ever Winners | Average Winners Per Draw |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 + 2 | 50% | 1 in 139,838,160 | €17,000,000.00 | €190,000,000.00 | €59,550,482.75 | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 5 + 1 | 2.61% | 1 in 6,991,908 | €64,840.10 | €5,227,531.10 | €412,802.79 | 17 | 3.6 | |
| 5 + 0 | 0.61% | 1 in 3,107,515 | €7,000.00 | €969,918.10 | €58,999.80 | 36 | 8.3 | |
| 4 + 2 | 0.19% | 1 in 621,503 | €309.80 | €9,956.60 | €3,105.64 | 8 | 172 | 42 |
| 4 + 1 | 0.35% | 1 in 31,075 | €59.00 | €266.30 | €161.85 | 249 | 3,119 | 823 |
| 3 + 2 | 0.37% | 1 in 14,125 | €23.10 | €179.30 | €100.47 | 517 | 6,898 | 1,831 |
| 4 + 0 | 0.26% | 1 in 13,811 | €21.50 | €91.90 | €56.02 | 630 | 5,668 | 1,844 |
| 2 + 2 | 1.30% | 1 in 985 | €8.40 | €31.10 | €18.72 | 7,338 | 98,958 | 26,173 |
| 3 + 1 | 1.45% | 1 in 706 | €7.00 | €20.30 | €13.93 | 12,558 | 116,308 | 35,931 |
| 3 + 0 | 2.70% | 1 in 314 | €6.40 | €17.30 | €11.62 | 29,444 | 221,456 | 80,404 |
| 1 + 2 | 3.27% | 1 in 188 | €4.40 | €16.50 | €9.86 | 38,881 | 486,402 | 136,389 |
| 2 + 1 | 10.30% | 1 in 49 | €4.10 | €11.10 | €7.58 | 181,198 | 1,438,780 | 511,411 |
| 2 + 0 | 16.59% | 1 in 22 | €3.20 | €5.30 | €4.28 | 488,245 | 2,959,529 | 1,143,354 |
Figures calculated using results drawn between 27/09/2016 and 10/11/2020.
This column displays the percentage of the prize fund allocated to each prize level. The remaining 10% goes into a separate fund, known as the Booster Fund, which is used to ensure there is always enough for the advertised minimum jackpot of €17 million. EuroMillions occasionally holds special draws or promotions, where the guaranteed minimum jackpot can be increased up to as much as €130 million, using surplus funds from the Booster Fund.
The 50% allocated to the jackpot only applies for the first five draws in a series of rollovers. Once the top prize has rolled over five times in a row, the ‘Match 5 + 2’ allocation is adjusted down to 42% until the jackpot gets won. The remaining 8% goes to the Booster Fund, ensuring that this reserve pot receives 18% of funds from the sixth draw in a rollover series until the jackpot is won.
The lowest and highest prize amounts for each prize tier, other than the jackpot, are in respect of individual winning tickets.
The Match 5 + 2 Lucky Stars prize values represent the total jackpot amounts regardless of how many winning tickets there were.
All prize data included in the table above relates to EuroMillions lottery draw results since 27th September 2016 when the Lucky Star pool increased from 11 numbers to 12. The details provided are for information purposes only and are not indicative of future prize values.
