EuroMillions Reaches Jackpot Cap!
Updated: Monday 23rd July 2018
EuroMillions has reached its jackpot cap of €190 million (around £170 million) after the jackpot rolled over for the eighth draw in a row last Friday. A sequence of eight consecutive rollovers wouldn’t normally be enough to take the EuroMillions jackpot to its maximum possible level, but a Superdraw on Friday 15 September boosted the prize fund considerably, much to the delight of lottery players across the continent.
For those who are not familiar with the concept, the EuroMillions jackpot cap is the maximum level that the top prize is allowed to reach. The cap figure is €190 million, and when the jackpot reaches that level, it cannot go any higher. If a rollover occurs when the jackpot cap is in place, the excess funds which would normally be added to the jackpot for the next draw are instead added to the prize fund for the highest prize tier which has winners.
There can only be four rollovers with the jackpot cap in place, and if no player matches all five main numbers as well as both Lucky Stars in the fifth draw, the €190 million jackpot is rolled down to the highest prize tier with winners. This means the sum could well be shared between those who match five main numbers and just one Lucky Star number, or even fewer!
This is based the current rules of the EuroMillions game, which were revised in September 2016. The €190 million jackpot cap value was set in January 2012, and that sum has been won outright on two occasions since then. The first €190 million jackpot win was achieved by British couple Adrian and Gillian Bayford on Tuesday 7 August, 2012, and the second went to a Portuguese ticket on Friday 24 October, 2014.
Now, almost exactly three years after the most recent €190 million win, EuroMillions players are getting excited about the prospect of another one being achieved. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but what we do know is that the €190 million will definitely be paid out – either to someone matching all seven numbers or to one or more extremely lucky consolation prize winners – within the next two weeks.
As you might expect, given the relatively rare situation that we find ourselves in, demand for EuroMillions tickets is higher than ever. Players are therefore being urged to act as early as possible if they want to participate in the jackpot cap draw this Tuesday 3 October, just in case there are any last-minute hiccups caused by the inevitable stampede. Choose your numbers online if you’d like to avoid queues in retail outlets, and we wish you the very best of luck in landing one of the biggest EuroMillions jackpots in history!
Published: Monday 2nd October 2017Lottery News News Archive