Eurojackpot Explained

Eurojackpot
Map:File:Map of the Eurojackpot countries.svg
Vat Id:(for European organizations) -->
Location:Europe

Eurojackpot is a transnational European lottery launched in March 2012. As of March 2024, the countries participating in the lottery are: Croatia,[1] Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany,[2] Hungary, Iceland,[3] Italy, Latvia,[4] Lithuania,[5] Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain Sweden, and Greece.

The jackpot starts at €10,000,000 and can roll over up to €120,000,000.[6] [7] [8] Playing the Eurojackpot costs €2 per line (except in Lithuania which includes additional game called 'Joker' that increases the price to €3 per line; buying a base ticket without Joker is not an option, in Greece where its costs €2,50 per line and in Slovenia where it costs €2,20 per line).

The goal is to match 5 correct numbers out of 50 plus another 2 supplementary numbers out of another 12;[9] the odds of winning the jackpot are 1:140,000,000. There are 12 tiers of prizes for Eurojackpot.[10]

The lottery draw takes place every Tuesday and Friday at 21:00 local time in Helsinki.[11] The evaluation of the winning lottery tickets is done in Germany and Denmark.

Odds

Eurojackpot odds ! (up to October 3, 2014)! Numbers! Probability of winning
1 (jackpot)5 + 21 : 59 325 279
25 + 11 : 4 943 772
351 : 3 955 018
44 + 21 : 263 667
54 + 11 : 21 971
641 : 17 577
73 + 21 : 5 991
83 + 11 : 498
92 + 21 : 417
1031 : 398
111 + 21 : 79
122 + 11 : 34
Eurojackpot odds ! (from October 10, 2014) ! Numbers! Probability of winning
1 (jackpot)5 + 21 : 95 344 199
25 + 11 : 5 959 012
351 : 3 405 149
44 + 21 : 423 751
54 + 11 : 26 484
641 : 15 133
73 + 21 : 9 630
82 + 21 : 671
93 + 11 : 601
1031 : 343
111 + 21 : 127
122 + 11 : 41
Eurojackpot odds ! (from March 2022) ! Numbers! Probability of winning
1 (jackpot)5 + 21 : 139 838 159
25 + 11 : 6 991 907
351 : 3 107 514
44 + 21 : 621 502
54 + 11 : 31 074
63 + 21 : 14 124
741 : 13 810
82 + 21 : 984
93 + 11 : 705
1031 : 313
111 + 21 : 187
122 + 11 : 48
13 (x)1 + 11 : 9

All odds are rounded to the decimal point.

(x) Greece only, from March 2024.

Jackpot behaviour

Up to January 31, 2013 the Eurojackpot lottery had a 'rolldown' clause: in case the jackpot is not won for 12 consecutive draws, the 13th draw will be subject to a rolldown whereby if no winner is able to match all 7 winning numbers, the jackpot is paid out to the next winning tier where a winner is available. It was this clause that set the previous jackpot record of 27,545,857.50 Euros in August 2012,[12] as a German player who correctly matched the 5 main numbers, but only one of the Euronumbers (out of two), walked away with the jackpot in the second prize tier.

For the groups except the first one, the winning amounts are calculated nationally, and they can vary by country based on number of winners, lottery tax and other reasons.

Notable wins

Accurate as of 27-07-2024

RankDatePrize (€)Country
104-06-2024120,000,000 Denmark
116-01-2024120,000,000 Norway
108-11-2022120,000,000 Germany
122-07-2022120,000,000 Denmark
123-06-2023120,000,000 Germany
604-08-2023117,242,386 Germany
720-05-2022110,213,537 Germany
831-01-2023107,469,011 Germany
909-07-202498,183,615 Germany
1023-08-201990,000,000 Finland
1014-10-201690,000,000 Germany
1015-01-202190,000,000 Germany
1009-02-201890,000,000 Finland
1001-05-202090,000,000 Germany
1028-05-202190,000,000 Germany
1007-02-202090,000,000 Germany
1015-05-201590,000,000 Czechia

The maximum jackpot of €120 million was reached for the first time on Tuesday 19th July 2022. Nobody won in that draw, but a player from Denmark did win in the following draw on Friday 22nd July.

The second largest jackpot was set on May 20, 2022, when a 15-player syndicate from Germany won €110 million.[13] This prize was the first jackpot over €90 million to be won following Eurojackpot's rule changes in March 2022, which increased the jackpot cap to €120 million.

The previous record, and cap, was 90,000,000.00 Euro. This sum was first won on May 15, 2015 where a person from Czech Republic won the 90,000,000.00 Euro jackpot.[14]

The first event when multiple players have won the same divided jackpot was on 7 January 2017. For the first time, five people (one from each German federal states of Berlin, Niedersachsen and Hessen, with a winner from Denmark and one from the Netherlands) won 18,000,000.00 Euro after a week when the maximum Jackpot with 90,000,000.00 Euro hadn't been drawn. It was followed by the next multiple 5+2 win on 10 February, when a Hungarian player won the country's biggest-ever lottery prize (overtaking the most famous 5/90 Ötöslottó's record with 5092 million Forint, which was 19˙216˙280,26 Euro as in the currency of 28 November 2003).

A Finnish syndicate of 50 players from Siilinjärvi, who had played a system ticket with 4 predictions in the 7/3 system mode for a total amount of 504.00 Euro, won on August 23, 2019 the maximum jackpot amount plus further winnings from the lower prize categories thus the record win of 91,938,695.00 Euro (84,174,472.21 GBP).[15] [16]

On 22 November 2019, 2 German and 1 Hungarian player won 90,000,000.00 Euro. Each player won 30,000,000.00 Euro (The one Hungarian player won more than 10 billion Forint, which is the country's biggest-ever lottery prize, overtaking again the most famous 5/90 Ötöslottós most record with 6431 million Forint, which was 24˙267˙124,51 Euro as in the currency of 28 March 2020).

The final capped 90,000,000.00 Euro jackpot was won on March 18, 2022, by tickets purchased in Finland and Norway.

On 9 December 2022, 1 Hungarian player won 75,871,602.00 Euro (over 30 billion Forint), breaking the previous record of 10 billion Forint, from the 22 November 2019 draw. Also, 2 other Hungarian player won 745,969.40 Euro(over 300 million Forint), along with the 1 Finnish player, by matching 5+1 numbers.

Notable wins by country

Accurate as of 27/07/2024

The jackpot was paid out 133 times (including one time in rank 2), good for 157 jackpot winners.

JP winners by country
Country JP winners
Croatia 1
Czechia 3
Denmark 12
Estonia 0
Finland 22
Germany 75
Greece 0
Hungary 4
Iceland 0
Italy 4
Latvia 0
Lithuania 1
Netherlands 2
Norway 8
Poland 6
Slovakia 1
Slovenia 4
Spain 6
Sweden 8

History

The Eurojackpot lottery was proposed in 2006, to compete with the EuroMillions lottery. By virtue of a large number of participating countries, the EuroMillions is able to offer considerably larger jackpots than those offered in a single national lottery. After seeing the success of EuroMillions, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Slovenia, Italy and the Netherlands met in Amsterdam in November 2011 to complete the negotiations for the Eurojackpot lottery and to begin the roll out in 2012. After the negotiations, Estonia also decided to participate in the lottery. The first ticket sales began on March 17, 2012 while the first ever draw took place on March 23, 2012.[17]

Spain joined the Eurojackpot from 30 June 2012 with the ticket concession granted to ONCE, the National Organization of Spanish blind people. On February 1, 2013 Croatia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden came along. Czechia and Hungary joined the Eurojackpot from October 10, 2014,[18] Slovakia from October 9, 2015 and Poland from September 15, 2017. In comparison, the Eurojackpot has a wider reach of potential players with an audience in local countries of 300 million, compared to the Euromillions of 217 million.

The gameplay changed on Friday October 10, 2014 with the number of the smaller set, the "Euro Numbers", in the Perle machine (later changed with a machine named as Opale XL) increasing from 8 to 10. The odds of winning the jackpot decreased from 1:59,325,280 to 1 in 95,344,200. In March 2022, further changes made to the game rules. The guess range for Euro Numbers expanded from 1-10 to 1-12. The jackpot cap grew to €120 million.[19] In addition, the new EuroJackpot rules also brought a new draw day on Tuesday. The first drawing with the new rules is planned for March 25, 2022, however, the ticket prices have not changed. The odds for winning the jackpot will be decreased to 1:139,838,160[20]

Participating countries

Eurojackpot is available to the residents of the countries participating in the official draw i.e. Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. Czechia and Hungary joined in October 2014. Slovakia joined in October 2015 and Poland in September 2017 and Greece in March 2024. The organisers also provide official websites to support retail sales, where it is possible to view the results of the draws shortly after they are recorded.

Spain is the only country to participate in both EuroMillions and Eurojackpot lottery games.

Private operators

A number of non-official online lottery sites provide tickets or bets on the Eurojackpot lottery. Some of these operators are state-licensed, while others are not. Generally, lottery tickets are restricted to purchase by adults, according to the Age of majority in a particular country. Countries such as Slovenia, Iceland and Italy restrict most private operators from offering lotteries.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: EUROJACKPOT - the new lotterie with a minimum jackpot of 10 million Euro.. eurojackpot.com.
  2. Web site: Eurojackpot Spielregeln . German . Eurojackpot game mechanics . . 2015-05-19 .
  3. News: Milljarðavinningar í EuroJackpot . Icelandic . Billion winnings in Eurojackpot . . Reykjavík . 2013-01-25 . 2015-05-19 .
  4. Web site: Kādam laimīgam latvietim ir iespēja balvā saņemt 10 miljonus eiro. February 4, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130202001459/http://puaro.lv/lv/tiesiskums-un-kriminallietas-raksti/kadam-laimigam-latvietim-ir-iespeja-balva-sanemt-10-miljonus-eiro-1 . February 2, 2013 .
  5. Web site: Olifėja Eurojackpot . Lithuanian . 2015-05-19 . December 22, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222110000/http://www.perlas.lt/eurojackpot/ . dead .
  6. News: Vil du vinde 675 millioner kroner? . Danish . Do you want to win 675 million kroner? . . 2011-04-05 . 2015-05-19 .
  7. News: Eurojackpot deal agreed in Helsinki . . 2011-06-08 . 2015-05-19 . The Finnish lottery operator Veikkaus is to join with fellow gambling companies in seven other European countries to run a lottery scheme offering jackpots of up to 90 million euros. The so-called Eurojackpot draw will start next spring. .
  8. Web site: Suomalainen lottokansa pääsee tavoittelemaan megaluokan lottopotteja, Veikkaus tiedotti keskiviikkona. . June 10, 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110609015923/http://www.iltasanomat.fi/kotimaa/huhhuh-suomalaiset-paasevat-lottoamaan-jopa-90-miljoonasta-eurosta/art-1288394111249.html . June 9, 2011 .
  9. Note: Free true random number generators, online, can aid in getting ticket numbers.
  10. Web site: The 12 tiers of prizes and odds for Eurojackpot. 2017-08-25. Multilotto. 2017-08-25.
  11. Web site: Eurojackpot speluitleg. eurojackpot.nl. October 9, 2013. September 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130906212539/https://www.eurojackpot.nl/cspublish/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=EuroJackpot%2FPage%2FEL&cid=1242281163408&p=1242282089252&pagename=EW#De_trekking. dead.
  12. Web site: Record Highs for the EuroJackpot Lottery - 27€ Million Jackpot on... -- LONDON, January 18, 2013 /PR Newswire UK/ --. 18 January 2013. prnewswire.co.uk.
  13. Web site: EuroJackpot's Top Winners. May 24, 2022.
  14. Web site: News Round. May 15, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150518101114/http://news.newsdirectory1.com/record-jackpot-goes-to-the-czech-republic-2/. May 18, 2015. dead.
  15. Web site: Lotto, Keno, Pitkäveto ja muut pelit verkkokaupasta.
  16. Web site: Historiallinen jättipotti: 22 000 asukkaan Siilinjärvi muuttui kertarysäyksellä miljonäärien kunnaksi. August 24, 2019.
  17. Web site: INTRALOT: Launch of new European lotto game in the Netherlands. Peinado. world-lotteries.org. April 7, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140408214816/http://www.world-lotteries.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4186%3Aintralot-launch-of-new-european-lotto-game-in-the-netherlands&catid=21&Itemid=100215&lang=de. April 8, 2014. dead.
  18. Web site: EuroJackpot Changes Means Bigger Jackpots. PlayHugeLottos.com.
  19. Web site: 2021-12-15. EuroJackpot Celebrates 10 Years Anniversary with A Change of Rules -. 2021-12-15. en-US.
  20. Web site: Lottery Odds Calculator. 2021-12-15. www.easysurf.cc.