EuroMillions Changes

The first draw involving players from Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium and Austria took place.

EuroMillions Plus was introduced in Ireland, where players pay €1 extra to take part in an additional draw that offers a jackpot of €500,000.

Millionaire Raffle was introduced, guaranteeing one UK player in every draw wins £1 million by matching the code drawn with the one automatically generated on their ticket when they play EuroMillions.

• Colin and Christine Weir from Largs in Ayrshire became the first players to win the top prize on EuroMillions at the jackpot cap. Their €185 million windfall worked out at £161.6 million at the time.
• The jackpot cap was raised to €190 million.

A rule was introduced that kept the jackpot cap at €190 million permanently, with a maximum of two draws allowed at that level before the prize money rolls down and is shared between ticket holders in the next winning prize tier.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford from Haverhill in Suffolk became the first EuroMillions players to win at the revised jackpot cap of €190 million. However, due to exchange rates at the time, their sterling payout was £148.6 million, which was less than Colin and Christine Weir, who won €185 million (£161.6 million) the previous year.

A special version of Millionaire Raffle was drawn called £1 Million Every Month for a Year. The ticket holder did not claim the win before the 180-day deadline, meaning that the entire prize of twelve installments of £1 million was donated to the Good Causes fund.

A Portuguese player from Castelo Branco won €190 million, becoming the second ticket holder in the game’s history to win a prize at the jackpot cap.

Changes to EuroMillions came into effect on 24th September 2016 in an effort to generate bigger jackpots, create more prize winners and make the game even more fun for players of Europe’s big-money lottery game.

Here’s an overview of the changes made:

• Cost of a UK EuroMillions ticket went from £2 to £2.50.
• Extra Lucky Star added, taking the pool from 11 to 12
• European Millionaire Maker introduced
• Jackpot capped draw duration increased to four draws
• Minimum jackpot increased from €15 million to €17 million.
• Number of UK Millionaire Maker prizes rose from one to two in every draw.
• Mega Fridays were replaced with Mega Weeks, these special draws take place several times a year and give players the chance to win £1 million and exciting non-cash prizes.

Under the previous format, 32% of the prize fund was allocated to the jackpot, this was increased to 43.2% meaning that jackpots increase in value at a faster rate. It is expected that top prizes of £50 million or more will occur more frequently under the new rules.

The EuroMillions jackpot reached its cap of €190 million for the third time on Tuesday 3rd October, before being won in the following draw by a Spanish player from Grand Canaria.

The number of Millionaire Maker winners per draw was cut from two to one, with more special draws taking place instead where multiple players would be guaranteed to win £1 million.

An anonymous UK player won the country’s largest-ever lottery prize, pocketing a £170 million EuroMillions jackpot. For details of other big EuroMillions wins in the UK, view the Top Lottery Winners list.

A number of changes were made to EuroMillions so that even more big jackpots would be put up for grabs. Here’s what changed:

• The Jackpot cap went up from €190 million to €200 million
• More of the prize fund allocated to the jackpot in each draw
• Superdraws to take place more regularly

The record for the biggest win was broken yet again. This time it was a Swiss player who landed a prize worth €210 million, with the jackpot cap subsequently going up to €220 million.

A UK player grabbed the largest jackpot ever seen in the country, winning £184 million after a run of 14 rollovers. Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester claimed the prize within days.