EuroMillions Rules

EuroMillions rules aren’t complicated, but for new players who would like a quick and informal guide to the EuroMillions rules that are most important, we are happy to provide just that. Spend a few minutes reading this article on EuroMillions rules and you’ll be able to start playing the EuroMillions lottery with complete confidence that you can claim any prize your ticket wins. We look at many different aspects and the page will be updated as and when there are any amendments to the rules governing the game.

All legal lottery games are governed by rules to ensure that those games are perfectly fair and also so that players know exactly what to expect when they participate. The main EuroMillions rules that players need to be aware of are as follows:

All participants in EuroMillions must be over the age of 18 when they buy their tickets (over 16 in the UK).

A prize can only be claimed in the country that issued the winning ticket.

The lottery operator will in most circumstances view the bearer of a EuroMillions ticket (as opposed to the purchaser) as being the rightful owner. This means that if you lose a EuroMillions ticket purchased offline, the person who finds that ticket may claim any prize won by that ticket. Of course, EuroMillions tickets purchased online are linked directly to the purchaser and therefore cannot be lost in the first place.

In the UK, the rules state that the lottery operator will not have any liability to anyone who plays the EuroMillions game via a Co-Promoter or their agents. Similar terms are applied by each Co-Promoter. So, as stated previously, you can only claim your prize in the country in which you bought the ticket.

From Friday 6 March, 2009, the lottery operator introduced a cap on the EuroMillions jackpot so that it could not exceed €185 million in the first instance of reaching the "Cap". This cap was reached on 8th July 2011 which meant a further €5 million was added to the cap as per the old rules. The cap now stands at €190 million and cannot rise above this amount according to rule changes made on 17th February 2012. These new rules mean that when the cap is reached is can only remain for two draws at this level. Should the second draw not produce any jackpot winners then all of the jackpot will roll down to the next winning prize tier. Any money in the jackpot fund over and above the cap will automatically roll down to the next winning prize tier, even on the first instance of the jackpot cap being reached.

In the UK only, every EuroMillions entry purchased automatically generates an entry into a supplementary Millionaire Raffle game. For this reason, EuroMillions tickets in the UK cost a little more than they do in other countries.

In the UK, all EuroMillions prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the draw taking place. Should this deadline be missed, the player’s right to the prize money will be made void and that prize money will instead be allocated to a fund for Good Causes. Lottery operators in other countries may have shorter deadline periods, so prize winners should claim their prize as soon as possible after each draw.

The general EuroMillions rules presented here aren’t exhaustive, but they cover the areas of most importance for players. For more information on other interesting EuroMillions lottery topics, feel free to browse through our EuroMillions Information archive.

6th November 2012