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PlayThe EuroMillions Jackpot Cap
The EuroMillions jackpot cap currently stands at €250 million, the largest amount possible to win in the game.
EuroMillions Jackpot Cap Explained
If the maximum jackpot of €250 million is reached, the normal rollover rules no longer apply. The top prize can’t go any higher so the funds have to be diverted elsewhere.
The jackpot can only stay at its maximum value for four draws at the most. If there is still no jackpot winner in the final draw - the fifth successive draw when the jackpot is €250 million - the full amount is split between the winners in the next tier.
The jackpot rolls over and increases by €15 million from the previous draw to reach €240 million. The cap has not yet been reached.
The total prize fund for all winners matching 5 numbers + 1 lucky star remains at a typical average of €2.1 million.
The jackpot can roll over to the next draw and can still increase.
The jackpot rolls over again and increased by €15 million but is capped at €250 million.
This creates an excess of €5 million, which is added to the Match 5 + 1 fund for a total of €7.1 million.
The jackpot can still roll over for four more draws, but it cannot increase in value.
The jackpot rolls over again but remains capped at €250 million.
The €15 million excess that would have been added to the jackpot is added to the Match 5 + 1 prize fund of €2.1 million, which becomes €17.1 million.
The jackpot cannot roll over again. If there are no jackpot winners, the entire amount is added to the next winning tier.
EuroMillions rules have allowed for the jackpot cap to increase by €10 million over the past few years. It has gone up by €10 million after every time it has reached its limit and been won. However, the maximum jackpot allowed at the current time is €250 million, so it will remain at this value even after it has been won.
Please Note: Values and amounts in the graphics are for guidance only and may not reflect actual draws.
Rolldowns and Must Be Won Draws
If the jackpot rolls over four more times after it hits the EuroMillions cap, a Must Be Won draw will take place. In Must Be Won draws, the entire jackpot kitty is guaranteed to be given away, even if no one matches all the numbers in the winning line. This is because the jackpot can roll down to the prize tier below. The steps below describe how the jackpot is awarded in Must Be Won draws:
- The jackpot will still be won by any players that match five numbers and two Lucky Stars. If there's more than one winner, the jackpot will be shared equally between them.
- If no one matches all the numbers, the jackpot will be shared equally between all the winners in the 'Match 5+1' prize tier, if there are any.
- If there are no winners in the 'Match 5+2' and 'Match 5+1' tiers, the jackpot will be shared by winners in the 'Match 5' prize tier, if there are any.
- By this point winners are likely to have been found but if not the jackpot will continue to 'roll down' the prize tiers until it lands in a tier with winners.
- The jackpot will reset to its starting value of €17 million (around £15 million) for the following draw.
To date, only three Must Be Won draws have occurred in EuroMillions. The most recent was on 8th October 2019, after the jackpot remained at its maximum amount for five successive draws. The first ever Must Be Won draw took place on 3rd February 2006 after a run of 11 consecutive rollovers, and that was closely followed by another Must Be Won draw on 17th November 2006.
Jackpot Cap Increase
The cap has previously been allowed to increase by €10 million each time the maximum jackpot has been won or rolled down, but current rules state that it will not be permitted to go higher than €250 million. The EuroMillions countries can change the value of the jackpot cap at any time.
When Has the Jackpot Cap Been Reached?
The most recent cap of €240 million was reached in December 2023 and, as a result, it has now increased to €250 million. The previous cap of €240 million was reached more than a year earlier, in July 2022. Before changes were made to the Jackpot Cap mechanism in February 2020, the cap that had remained in place for a number of years stood at €190 million. This cap was reached four times. Prior to January 2012, the jackpot cap was set at €185 million and that cap was reached just once.
December 2023
This record jackpot was largely created by a special Superdraw on 1st December, when the top prize was bumped up to €200 million rather than the usual €130 million. After a couple of rollovers, the jackpot hit its €240 million limit.
There was a single winner in the first draw at its cap on 8th December, as an Austrian ticket holder matched all the numbers.
July 2022
After a Superdraw on 17th June, the jackpot kept climbing until it reached its €230 million ceiling on Friday 8th July. Nobody matched all the numbers in the first, second or third draw at the cap, but then a UK player did win the prize (worth £195 million) on Tuesday 19th July.
If the jackpot had rolled over on Tuesday 19th July, a Must Be Won draw would have taken place on the Friday.
October 2021
The EuroMillions jackpot hit its upper limit of €220 million for the draw on Friday 12th October. The grand prize was initially boosted to €130 million for a Superdraw on 24th September, however a series of rollovers after that brought it to reach its new capped amount, just eight months after it broke its previous record.
The jackpot was not won in its first draw at the cap this time around, however its second outing on 15th October proved to be the money maker for one lucky French ticket holder. It later emerged that the winner was actually a woman from Tahiti, where tickets are sold as it is part of French Polynesia.
February 2021
The jackpot hit its €210 million cap ahead of the draw on 23rd February. The top prize grew quickly following a Superdraw on 5th February, going past €200 million for the first time on 19th February and then triggering the cap in the next draw.
The jackpot remained at its limit until it was won by a ticket purchased in Switzerland for the draw on Fridy 26th February. The ticket holder was from German-speaking Switzerland and bought two tickets online at a cost of 7 Swiss francs.
December 2020
After a €130 million Superdraw on 20th November which was not won, the EuroMillions jackpot rolled over for the subsequent five draws. After the third rollover, it reached the cap of €200 million (as it was at the time). The jackpot remained at €200 million for the following two draws, when it was finally won by a French ticket holder on 11th December. As a result of the cap being reached, it then increased to €210 million for the next time it gets hit.
September 2019
The jackpot rolled over for 18 draws in a row to hit the €190 million cap ahead of the draw on Tuesday 24th September. It was the most consecutive draws without a jackpot winner in EuroMillions history. The top prize for the previous draw on Friday 20th September had fallen just short of the maximum amount, coming in at €188 million. The jackpot was not won until 8th October, when a Must Be Won draw took place and one anonymous UK ticket holder matched all the numbers to win the entire amount.
October 2017
The €190 million cap was also reached in October 2017. The limit was first reached in the draw on Tuesday 3rd October, but it went one more draw before being won by a player from Spain. The lucky winner remained anonymous but it was revealed that the ticket was bought in Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.
October 2014
On 24th October 2014, the EuroMillions jackpot hit the €190 million cap for the second time. The entire amount went to an anonymous ticket holder in Portugal.
August 2012
The first time the jackpot reached the €190 million cap was on Tuesday 7th August 2012. No one won the prize in that draw but it was won in the next one on Friday 10th August by Adrian and Gillian Bayford from Suffolk in the UK. The sterling value of the jackpot at the time was £148.6 million.
July 2011
The previous jackpot cap of €185 million was reached for the first and only time on Friday 8th July 2011. It then went one more draw before it was won by Colin and Chris Weir from Scotland. Their jackpot worked out at £161 million, making it the biggest lottery jackpot ever won in the UK.
November 2006
When EuroMillions first began, there was a rollover limit rather than a jackpot cap. The jackpot could only roll over for a maximum of 11 draws before it had to be given away – regardless of how much it was worth. The second and last time this happened was on Friday 17th November 2006. On that occasion no one matched all the numbers to win the jackpot, so the prize money was shared between 20 ticket holders who matched five numbers plus one Lucky Star. Each winner took home a prize of £6,750,278.40 / €9,652,340.00.
February 2006
The first time the 11-rollover limit was reached was on Friday 3rd February 2006, when three ticket holders matched all the numbers to win €61 million each. Two of the winning tickets were purchased in France and one in Portugal.
History of the Jackpot Cap
Take a look at the various changes that have been made to the Jackpot Cap over the years since EuroMillions launched:
February 2004 - EuroMillions Launches with Rollover LimitWhen EuroMillions was launched in 2004, the game was initially limited to a maximum of 11 consecutive rollovers, with no cap on the jackpot prize fund. If no player successfully matched all five main numbers and two Lucky Stars to win the top prize in the 12th draw, the money would roll down to be distributed to the next prize tier with winning players.
November 2009 - Jackpot Cap Set At €185 MillionIn November 2009, the rollover rules were changed and replaced with a maximum jackpot limit (known as a jackpot cap), which was set at €185 million. However, the new rules confirmed that once the jackpot reached this figure for the first time, the cap would then increase by another €5 million.
The jackpot cap of €185 million was eventually reached on 12th July 2011 when Scottish couple Chris and Colin Weir successfully scooped the jackpot - the cap was duly increased to €190 million. On 12th January 2012 the rules changed to permanently cap the jackpot at €190 million.
In September 2016, a number of rule changes were introduced in order to generate bigger jackpots on a more regular basis. One of these changes was to increase the number of draws in which the jackpot could remain at €190 million before rolling down and being shared between ticket holders in a lower prize tier. Originally, the prize total could reach its limit and remain active for one draw before rolling down in the second draw; however, these changes saw the limit increased to four draws.
The EuroMillions prize structure was changed in February 2020 so that a larger percentage of the prize fund went to the jackpot in every draw. To help offer even more big prizes, the jackpot cap went up from €190 million to €200 million. Under the new rules, the jackpot cap would increase by €10 million every time it was won or rolled down, up to a maximum of €250 million.
Could the Jackpot Cap Change?
The UK EuroMillions game procedures contain a clause that allows it to be raised or lowered in the future, stating "Allwyn and the EuroMillions Partners can change the level of the jackpot cap at any time".
