Euromillions boasts the fact that it is one of the largest tax-free, lump-sum lotteries in the world. A relatively new offering, launched on the 13th of February 2004 in France, it spans over many European countries, making it the first truly multi-national lottery.
In the beginning, just three countries were involved, the UK, France & Spain but in October the same year, Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal & Switzerland added their names to the list with many more European countries eager to follow suit.
This lottery pools money paid in by all the participating nations, resulting in massive Jackpots which are some of the largest in the world and as more and more countries join, these jackpot prize funds will rise in value even further.
Euromillions draws are held each and every Friday evening and are held in Paris.
To play you need to pick 5 main numbers between 1 and 50 as well as 2 “lucky star” numbers between 1 and 9. 5 balls are drawn from 50 numbers (1 to 50) and then 2 balls (called “lucky stars”) are drawn from the 9 numbers randomly from 2 separate draw machines that contain the numbered balls.
Added anticipation to this already exciting game is the “rollover”, where, like several Australian lotteries, on any given week, if the correct numbers are not matched to win the Jackpot, the prize fund “rolls over” and increases in value week after week until winning numbers are drawn. However, in February 2007, a law came in that limited the number of roll-overs that can take place to eleven with the Jackpot reaching 183 million Euros after rolling over the maximum amount of times November 17 2006. (12 divisions)
