EuroMillions Must Be Won Draws

‘Must Be Won’ draws are rare but very special occurrences in EuroMillions when the jackpot has to be given away on the night. Discover when they take place and how they guarantee that big prizes will be won.

How a Must Be Won Draw Works

A Must Be Won draw is only held in EuroMillions when the jackpot has stayed at its €250 million cap for four consecutive draws. The fifth draw at the cap is a Must Be Won draw, in which all of the prize money is awarded, even if no players match all five numbers and both Lucky Stars.

The draw works in the same way as a standard draw, except that if nobody matches all the numbers the jackpot money rolls down to the next tier in which there are winners. This is likely to be the ‘Match 5 + 1 Lucky Star’ category, but if there are no winners in that tier the prize money would roll down to the next category below.

The first Must Be Won draw at the jackpot cap took place on Tuesday 8th October 2019, after the jackpot had reached its cap - €190 million at the time - on 24th September. A ticket sold in the UK matched all the numbers to win a prize that worked out at £170 million, so the money did not have to roll down.

Must Be Won Draw History

The original rules of EuroMillions allowed the jackpot to roll just 11 times before a Must Be Won draw was held in the subsequent draw.

A jackpot cap of €185 million was introduced in 2009 and this later moved up to €190 million. Initially, the top prize would only be allowed to stay at its cap for one draw before having to be won in the next draw. This was later increased to two draws and then it was raised to four in September 2016. The jackpot cap was increased to €200 million in February 2020, with the rules still dictating that it could stay at its maximum value for four draws before a Must Be Won draw would take place in the following draw. The new rules also allowed for the jackpot cap to increase by €10 million after each time it was won.

The dates when Must Be Won draws have previously been held are shown below:

Friday 3rd February 2006 – The jackpot had to be won after 11 consecutive rollovers. Three players matched all the numbers to win a share of a jackpot worth £126 million (€183 million). This worked out at £42 million (€61 million) each.
Friday 17th November 2006 – Another Must Be Won draw was held after 11 rollovers in a row. This time there were no tickets that matched all the numbers, so 20 players ended up winning £6.7 million (€9.6 million) each after matching five main numbers plus one Lucky Star.
Friday 26th September 2008 – A special jackpot event took place in which the top prize was increased to a guaranteed €130 million (£102 million). Unlike a regular Superdraw, the jackpot had to be won on the night. There were no ‘Match 5 + 2 winners’, so the full amount was shared between 15 ticket holders who matched five main numbers and one Lucky Star. They each pocketed £7 million (€9.1 million).
Tuesday 8th October 2019 – The jackpot had to be won after climbing to its €190 million limit and staying there for four draws. One UK player did match all the numbers to win the full amount (worth £170 million).