Euromillions Rollover Frenzy!
Last Updated: Wednesday 7th August 2013, 13:37
The next Euromillions jackpot will be worth around €152 million (approximately £100 million) thanks to ten consecutive rollovers. This is good news for the 17% of British players who, according to a recent survey conducted by the National Lottery, would need to win £100 million or more in order to feel "extremely rich".
Actually “needing” £100 million isn’t a concept we're entirely familiar with, and like most people we would be quite happy with a fraction of that sum (even 1% would make you a millionaire!) but if £100 million is up for grabs, we won't turn down the opportunity just to prove the point!
The idea that a popular lottery like Euromillions could have ten consecutive rollovers seems strange to some, but when you look at things mathematically it isn't hard to see why nobody has won the jackpot since 25 August. To win the top prize, you need to correctly pick 5 main numbers from 50 and 2 Lucky Star numbers from 9. The odds of anyone doing this are a miniscule 1 in 76,275,360. Once you start thinking about Europe's favourite lottery in these terms, the surprise is that we don't get extended rollovers more frequently than we actually do.
In February 2006, the Euromillions jackpot reached the dizzy heights of €125 million after eleven consecutive rollovers, before being won by three ticket holders who each received just over €61 million. If this Friday's draw doesn't produce a winner then it could be that we'll see a similar sized jackpot in the near future.
Not that the Euromillions lottery can rollover forever. There is an important rule which says that if the jackpot isn't won for twelve weeks in a row, the prize fund should be distributed to the winners of the next best prize - those who match all five main numbers and just one Lucky Star number instead of two. Achieving this is no mean feat either, but there is usually a handful of people winning at this level, so whatever happens there are certain to be some brand new multi-millionaires created before the month comes to an end.
British players are keeping their fingers crossed that the law of averages comes good and brings a tide of good luck to the shores of the UK - so far the majority of Euromillions jackpots have been won by players in France and Portugal. Of course, if this Friday makes a Brit £100 million richer then the win will have been well worth waiting for
