How to Play EuroMillions
Ireland joined EuroMillions in October 2004 alongside Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland, eight months after the game originally launched in Spain, France and the UK. EuroMillions has become famous for giving away huge jackpots that can quickly reach nine figures.
To take part, players choose five main numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars from a pool of 1 to 12 and must match all seven digits to claim the jackpot, which starts at €17 million. Tickets cost €2.50 and draws take place in Paris on Tuesday and Friday nights. Irish ticket holders also receive an entry into the Ireland Only Raffle for every line of EuroMillions numbers they purchase.
It is also possible to take part in EuroMillions by joining an online syndicate. Syndicates are groups of people who buy multiple lottery tickets with the agreement that any prizes will be split between all syndicate members. Joining one is a great way to boost your odds of winning a prize, without having to spend more money yourself, because you have more entries into the draw so it becomes more likely that one of your group's tickets will match the winning EuroMillions numbers.
You can find the latest EuroMillions results soon after the numbers are drawn.
How to Win EuroMillions
Like most traditional lotteries, the aim of EuroMillions is to match your numbers with the winning ones. You win a prize for matching two or more numbers, with the jackpot going to anyone who matches them all.
The table below shows the combinations you need to win EuroMillions, the odds of winning each prize, and estimated prize amounts. Each prize tier is funded using a certain percentage of an overall prize fund, as shown in the table, so the individual prize amounts can vary between draws.
| Match | Odds of Winning | Estimated Prize | Percentage of Prize Fund |
| 5 + 2 | 1 in 139,838,160 | Minimum €17 million | 50% or 42% |
| 5 + 1 | 1 in 6,991,908 | €303,798 | 2.61% |
| 5 + 0 | 1 in 3,107,515 | €31,448 | 0.61% |
| 4 + 2 | 1 in 621,503 | €3,076 | 0.19% |
| 4 + 1 | 1 in 31,076 | €164 | 0.35% |
| 3 + 2 | 1 in 14,126 | €102 | 0.37% |
| 4 + 0 | 1 in 13,812 | €59 | 0.26% |
| 2 + 2 | 1 in 986 | €19 | 1.30% |
| 3 + 1 | 1 in 707 | €14 | 1.45% |
| 3 + 0 | 1 in 314 | €12 | 2.70% |
| 1 + 2 | 1 in 188 | €10 | 3.27% |
| 2 + 1 | 1 in 50 | €8 | 10.30% |
| 2 + 0 | 1 in 22 | €4 | 16.59% |
The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 13. Players have 90 days from the date of the relevant draw to claim EuroMillions prizes from tickets purchased in Ireland.
During the first five draws of a rollover cycle (starting from the first draw with the base jackpot of €17 million), approximately 50% of the prize fund is allocated to the jackpot, with 10% allocated to the Reserve Fund. Starting from the sixth draw until the jackpot is won or it rolls down, 42% percent of the prize fund is allocated to the jackpot, with 18% diverted to the Reserve Fund.
The minimum jackpot is worth €17 million, but its value can quickly increase due to rollovers and high levels of ticket sales. The EuroMillions jackpot is capped once it reaches €250 million; it can then stay at this amount for a total of five draws if needed, but if there is no winner in the fifth draw at the jackpot cap, the full amount rolls down to the next prize tier with winning players and is shared equally across all tickets.
The EuroMillions jackpot cap was previously €190 million until 1st February 2020. It hit this mark on four occasions:
- UK couple Adrian and Gillian Bayford became the first to claim the maximum prize on 10th August 2012.
- An anonymous ticket holder from Portugal won €190 million on Friday 24th October 2014.
- An unknown ticket holder from Spain was the third person to win the full €190 million in October 2017.
- On 8th October 2019 a ticket holder from the UK won a €190 million jackpot after it went for 22 straight draws without being won. It broke the record for the biggest lottery prize ever claimed in the UK.
In February 2020 the EuroMillions rules were changed to increase the jackpot cap to €200 million, which would then increase by €10 million every time it was reached, up to a maximum of €250 million.
The €200 million cap was reached for the first time on Friday 4th December 2020 and won on Friday 11th December, increasing the cap to €210 million.
A Swiss player's €210 million win in February 2021 pushed the jackpot cap up to €220 million, and a French ticket holder scooped this prize in October to leave the limit at €230 million.
One lucky ticket sold in the UK for the draw on Tuesday 19th July 2022 saw the €230 million capped jackpot won after a series of rollovers throughout the month following a Superdraw. As a result, the cap has increased by a further €10 million to a new limit of €250 million.
EuroMillions Superdraws
EuroMillions Superdraws – also known as Megadraws - are special events which take place a few times a year. The jackpot is raised to a guaranteed amount, such as €100 million or even €130 million, regardless of its value in the previous draw. Superdraws are announced in advance and are paid for using the Reserve Fund.
Apart from the guaranteed jackpot, Superdraws work in the same way as regular draws. If there are no winners, the top prize rolls over to the following draw and keeps growing until it is won or reaches the €250 million cap.
EuroMillionaire's Raffle Draw
As part of changes to EuroMillions in September 2016, the EuroMillionaire’s Raffle Draw was introduced. This special game guarantees that a pre-determined number of tickets from across all nine participating EuroMillions countries will win €1 million in a single night.
All Irish tickets entered into the EuroMillionaire’s Raffle Draw will receive a code beginning with the letter ‘I’, followed by three more letters and five numbers. On the night of a EuroMillionaire’s Raffle Draw, a predetermined number of codes entered into the draw are randomly selected to win prizes.
Here is a list of all the EuroMillionaire’s Raffle Draws to date:
| Date | Number of Prizes | Value of Prizes Offered |
| 28th October 2016 | 25 | €1 million |
| 23rd February 2018 | 25 | €1 million |
| 21st January 2022 | 100 | €1 million |
Irish EuroMillions Winners
There have been a number of Irish EuroMillions jackpot winners since the country joined the game in October 2004. Here are the biggest winners:
| Date | Prize | Winner's Details |
| 19th February 2019 | €175.4 million | Family syndicate who purchased their entry in The Naul, Co Dublin |
| 29th July 2005 | €115.4 million | Dolores McNamara of Limerick. |
| 25th June 2013 | €93.9 million | Ticket bought in Beaumont, Dublin. Split €187.9 million jackpot with a Belgian player. |
| 24th January 2017 | €88.5 million | Syndicate who bought their ticket in Lusk, Dublin. |
| 19th September 2014 | €86.7 million | Syndicate who bought their ticket in Ballybrack, Dublin. |
EuroMillions Plus
The Irish EuroMillions supplementary game is EuroMillions Plus, which allows you to enter the five main numbers, but not the Lucky Stars, from your EuroMillions line into an additional draw for an extra opportunity to win. Access to EuroMillions Plus costs €1 on top of the usual EuroMillions ticket price.
