EuroMillions Changes Set For September
Changes to EuroMillions will take place in late September to generate bigger average jackpots, increase excitement for the game and create even more prize winners than ever before, with Irish EuroMillions players getting the chance to take part in an exclusive raffle. The new EuroMillions game will be launched on Saturday 24th September and a guaranteed jackpot of €130 million will be on offer the following Friday 30th September, to mark the changes.
Alterations to the format of the game have been designed to ‘deliver even more for our players and good causes in the years to come’, according to Dermot Griffin, CEO of Premier Lotteries Ireland. Fans can now look forward to guaranteed starting jackpots going up from €15 million to €17 million, while there are expected to be twice as many jackpots over €50 million and more regular top prizes in excess of €100 million.
Starting from 24th September 2016, players will pay €2.50 for each EuroMillions line they play instead of €2, but they will now also be able to enter an exclusive Irish raffle, which will have ten guaranteed winners of €5,000 in each draw. One extra number will be added to the Lucky Stars ball pool, meaning that players must now pick two numbers between 1 and 12 rather than two numbers between 1 and 11. Participants will continue to select their five main numbers from between 1 and 50, while the overall odds of winning a prize remain at 1 in 13.
Over 100,000 Irish players claim cash prizes on EuroMillions each week, according to Griffin, and Ireland was actually the last country to produce a jackpot winner when a syndicate of Dublin bus drivers pocketed €23.8 million on Friday 1st July. The money raised from EuroMillions ticket sales helps to support worthy projects across the Republic of Ireland in sectors such as arts, heritage, youth and sport, and the changes will help to benefit these good causes at a faster rate while creating more prize winners in the country.
The changes will not take place until after the draw on Friday 23rd September, so you can carry on playing EuroMillions as you have been for now, in the knowledge that average jackpots will soon start to grow higher and there will be more great prizes up for grabs.
12th July 2016
