EuroMillions Superdraw Propels Jackpot Past £100 Million
Last Updated: Wednesday 23rd September 2020, 16:11
The first EuroMillions Superdraw of the year will be held this Friday, 1st February, putting up a jackpot of €120 million (approximately £104 million). It is the largest prize to be offered since Northern Irish couple Frances and Patrick Connolly won £115 million right at the start of 2019.
How Superdraws Work
Superdraws work in the same way as regular draws, but they offer guaranteed jackpots regardless of how large the top prize was in the previous draw. Nobody won Tuesday’s £75 million jackpot, but even if they had, the top prize for Friday night would have remained €120 million.
The extra money needed to top up the jackpot is taken out of the EuroMillions Reserve Fund, which is in place to pay for the minimum jackpot and occasional special events. A small percentage of the prize fund goes into this reserve pot every single draw.
Apart from the increased jackpot, Friday’s draw will follow normal rules. You still pick five main numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars between 1 and 12, meaning the odds of winning are the same as ever. The jackpot can also roll over if there are no winners on Friday, pushing it up to an even higher amount.
Superdraws have helped to create some of the biggest winners in EuroMillions history, and it is possible for the jackpot to keep climbing right up to its cap of €190 million (approximately £165 based on the current exchange rate). The last time it got this high was in October 2017, when a Spanish player won the lot.
Big UK Winners
If there is a UK winner of Friday’s Superdraw, they will also slot in at No.7 on the list of the country’s biggest prizes. Christine and Colin Weir are top of the rankings thanks to their £161 million jackpot back in 2011, while the Connollys became the newest members of the top ten when they landed the fourth-biggest prize ever seen in the UK on New Year’s Day.
Frances and Patrick Connolly came forward within a few days and spoke about their plans to retire, fulfil some of their lifelong dreams and share the money with loved ones. You don’t have to claim your prize that quickly, though, as winning tickets remain valid for up to 180 days after a draw has taken place.
Changes to Good Causes
When you buy a ticket for any National Lottery game, you are helping to support good causes in the UK whether you win or not. Around 28p from every £1 goes towards helping various projects in a number of different sectors, and a couple of the funding organisations responsible for distributing that money have taken on new names this week.
The Big Lottery Fund has become The National Lottery Community Fund, while the Heritage Lottery Fund will now be known as The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The changes have been made so that people can understand more clearly which causes benefit from National Lottery players.
Dawn Austwick, chief executive of The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “National Lottery funding for good causes changes lives. As the largest community funder in the UK, we see the amazing achievements of thousands of people-led projects every year.”
The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s CEO Ron Kerslake added: “In 25 years The National Lottery has transformed the UK. Historic high streets and public parks have been revitalised; native wildlife has been protected; our museums and cultural attractions are now world-class; and stories and memories have been preserved. But beyond the millionaires it’s created, many people simply aren’t aware of its impact on our daily lives. By putting The National Lottery brand front and centre of our own, we hope to help change that.”
National Lottery players raise around £30 million every week for good causes. The total stands at more than £39 billion since 1994, with more than 535,000 individual projects benefiting from funding.