EuroMillions Hits £154 Million as Lotto Must Be Won

Updated: Friday 15th November 2019

It is set to be a special week for National Lottery players after EuroMillions and Lotto both rolled over in their latest draws, creating huge jackpots and exciting opportunities to win big prizes. The EuroMillions jackpot is now worth a staggering £154 million, while Wednesday’s £18.2 million Lotto draw must be won.

Could You Become The UK’s Second-Largest Winner?

Friday’s EuroMillions draw produced more than 3.1 million prize winners, but there was not a single ticket from across the nine participating countries that matched all seven winning numbers.

The jackpot has been rolling over since a Superdraw was held on 1st February to push the top prize up to a guaranteed €120 million (£105 million). It is now approaching its jackpot cap of €190 million (around £166 million based on the current exchange rate), but it is already one of the largest prizes ever seen in 15 years of EuroMillions.

If there is a single UK winner of the top prize on Tuesday night, they will become the country’s second-biggest lottery winner of all time, overtaking the £148 million claimed by Adrian and Gillian Bayford in August 2012. Only Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in Ayrshire, Scotland, have won a larger amount (£161 million), and their record could be under threat if there is just one more rollover.

The two biggest winners so far have gone public with their identities, but lottery winners in the UK have a choice over whether to reveal their identities or stay anonymous. You can choose to stay private if you win the next big jackpot; you just to make sure you claim your prize within 180 days of the draw taking place.

Will Lotto Prizes Roll Down Again?

While EuroMillions offers a far larger jackpot this week, the top prize in Lotto must be won after rolling over for a fifth time in a row on Saturday night. The new ‘rolldown’ rule makes this a particularly good opportunity to try and win a larger prize than normal, as the jackpot money will be split between all other cash winners if nobody matches all six main numbers.

This has already happened once since the new rule was introduced, when the jackpot rolled down on 30th January. On that occasion, players in the Match 3 category received £138 instead of the fixed £30 award, while winners in the Match 4, Match 5 and Match 5 + Bonus categories also had their prizes boosted significantly.

The jackpot was worth £12.9 million on 30th January, so with around £5.3 million extra in the pot this time around, the payouts could be even greater. The exact prizes will depend on the number of tickets sold and the number of winners in each tier, while there will not be a rolldown if anyone matches all six main numbers. If there is a Match 6 winner, it will be the largest Lotto jackpot to have been won since October.

How To Take Part

The jackpots this week may be bigger and better than normal, but you can still play the games in exactly the same way as usual. Just pop down to an authorised National Lottery retailer before ticket sales close, or take part online. You could just become one of the UK’s biggest winners!

Published: Monday 18th February 2019

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