EuroMillions Changes Coming In To Create Bigger Jackpots
Last Updated: Thursday 24th September 2020, 09:51
There are some exciting times ahead for EuroMillions players, with big changes to look forward to from 1st February 2020. You can expect to play for bigger jackpots more often, enjoy more frequent Superdraws, and take advantage of an increased jackpot cap, which could rise from €190 million to €250 million in the future.
Jackpot Cap Rises
The most significant change is that the current jackpot cap of €190 million, which was set in January 2012, will increase to €200 million immediately under the new structure, with the potential for it to increase further in the future.
Under the new rules, which will be in force in time for the draw on Tuesday 4th February, once the €200 million cap is reached, the EuroMillions jackpot can go four more draws before a ‘Must Be Won’ draw is held. In that draw the entire jackpot will be given away, even if no one matches all five numbers and both Lucky Stars.
However, once the jackpot has been won (if the cap has been reached), the maximum will increase by €10 million for the next run of rolllovers, so the jackpot would have the potential to reach €210 million. And when that cap is met again, there will be another increase by €10 million, and so on until the jackpot reaches the absolute maximum value of €250 million.
The way Must Be Won draws work won’t change. After the maximum of four draws, if the jackpot is not won, any additional prize money filters down to the next prize tier.
The increase to the cap is likely to see the game’s biggest-ever jackpot being won at some point, surpassing the current largest win of €190 million, a record that is jointly held by four previous winners. It also means that EuroMillions could boast the biggest jackpot ever seen in Europe and beat the €209 million recently won by a single player in the Italian SuperEnalotto game.
More Superdraws
Other exciting news is about the number of Superdraws that will be held each year with the participating lotteries announcing that there will be more of these on the way from 2020. Since 2017, there have been two Superdraws a year, but under the new format there will be three per year, with the first one due to be held on Tuesday 7th February.
The magic of Superdraws is that they increase the jackpot to a guaranteed amount – typically €130 million – regardless of its value in the preceding draw, or whether or not it has just been won. And an added benefit is that the top prize can even roll over if it isn’t won and so quickly creates some of the largest jackpots ever seen.
This happened in the UK in June 2019 when a player won £123 million after a Superdraw, had rolled over from the previous week. In fact, 2019 was an incredible year for EuroMillions players in the UK, with record jackpots being won and over 200 millionaires created.
There is no reason why that trend can’t continue in 2020 as the National Lottery has announced that 20 UK millionaires are guaranteed to be made on Tuesday 4th February. The special Millionaire Maker draw has been organised to celebrate all of the new changes to EuroMillions and anyone who purchases a ticket in the UK will be automatically entered into the Millionaire Maker raffle at no extra cost. If the code on your ticket matches the winning one, you are a millionaire.
Find out more about all the EuroMillions Changes and keep an eye out for the latest results after every draw to see if you are a winner.