Which is the Biggest Lottery in Europe?
European lotteries are some of the most interesting ones in the world! They offer quite good odds combined with big jackpot - what more could we ask for?! The biggest European lottery is indeniably the EuroMillions as it offers the biggest jackpots.
However, there is more to European lotteries than just the most known game of them all. You can find some smaller lotteries that may not offer such big jackpots but may bring you better odds. Discover all about the best lotteries in Europe in our complete & detailed European lottery guide below:
The EuroMillions European lottery
The EuroMillions lottery is the biggest lottery in Europe as it offers the biggest jackpots! It is a transnational game offered by the 9 following countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain.
This means that depending of which country you purchase your lottery ticket from, there may be some slight differences. However, the rules are the same for every version of the EuroMillions: you need to guess the 5 main numbers (from 1 to 50) as well as 2 additional numbers also known as the Lucky Stars (from 1 to 12) to scoop the jackpot. If you guess some of the numbers, you might scoop some of the secondary prizes this European lottery has to offer.
More on the EuroMillions European lottery
Did you know: the EuroMillions lottery is linked to the number 13. Indeed, superstitious or not, the number 13 seems to be lucky for this amazing European lottery. For instance, the first EuroMillions draw took place on a Friday 13, in 3 participating countries (France, Spain and Great Britain). The following countries Austria, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg & Ireland joined shortly after.
Now, do you think it is a coincidence that the EuroMillions European country offers 13 prize categories?! By guessing right only 2 main numbers you can still scoop a prize at this amazing European lottery!
The jackpot can reach €25 Crore!
Need to know on the EuroMillions European lottery
We mentionned earlier that each country offers its own version, which means that there can be small differences; but what does it mean really? Well, for example the Austria EuroMillions offers a raffle since July 2018. As a side note: lottery prizes aren't taxed in Austria! This is important because it means that if you would scoop the same EuroMillions prize in Austria or in an other country, you would actually remain with more money in Austria as you won't have to pay taxes in Austria.
The participating countries don't all offer EuroMillions raffles. These raffles can also be slightly different but the principle remains the same for all. You will find an alphanumerical code printed on your EuroMillions ticket. It is worth mentionning that you cannot choose this code, it will be automatically printed on the ticket you purchase. If this code matches the ones pulled out during the draw = you become rich!
The Eurojackpot European lottery
The EuroJackpot is the second biggest lottery in Europe and it is a transnational lottery as well. Its jackpots get to amazing amounts eventhough they don't reach the EuroMillions heights as the maximum cap is set at €12 Crore!
More on the Eurojackpot European lottery
The Eurojackpot game saw its first draw in 2006. It was created as a direct competitor to the EuroMillions lottery and now counts 18 participating countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
Need to know on the Eurojackpot European lottery
Overall, there are 12 tiers, therefore you have many opportunities to win a prize. With the last prize you can still win €7. As for the jackpot, it starts at €1 Crore while the second-tier prize regularly overs the 50 Lakh mark.
You can get your tickets on LottoSmile and enjoy some useful play options that can help you win more, or more easily.
For instance, you can try the syndicates. This way you can play with group of people: it costs you less while improving your odds. Some syndicates won big at the Eurojackpot lottery: a syndicate of 15 players from North-Rhine Westphalia, in Germany scooped the record jackpot of €11 Crore on May 20, 2022!
The European France Loto
France Loto is extremely popular among European lotteries. this game was launched in 1976 which makes it one of the oldest lotteries in Europe. It offers draws every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and often offers Special Draws to players.
More on the European France Loto
The 1st draws of the French lotto took place at the Empire Theatre close to the Triumph Arc in Paris. Back then, in May 1976, starting this new European lottery was very daring as nothing similar existed in Europe. So daring in fact that only a third of the people which were invited to the opening ceremony of this European lottery actually went. However, this did not predict the future of the game as it is more popular than ever.
The first draw took place in May but it is only in September of the same year that it made its first winner! The lucky player which happened to be French lotto's first winner scooped 8 Crore old Francs (more or less €1,20,000 today). This was such a big moment that it really launched this European lottery and everyone wanted to try its luck! The success continued and in January 1978, draws could be seen live on TV!
Need to know on the Europe France Loto
Well, if you are thinking of trying your luck at the French lotto, you should know that French prizes are exonerated from taxes. This is probably one of the reasons for which this is one of the best lotteries in Europe!
Luck can strike twice: a player from Montpellier (in France) scooped the French lotto's jackpot not once but twice! The first time was in 1996 when he scooped €28 Lakh while the second time was in 2011 when he scooped €30 Lakh. The most amazing part is that he won twice with the same set of numbers!
The European Germany Lotto
Germany Lotto is one of the biggest European lotteries. Its jackpot already reached €4,54 Crore and it offers 9 prize tiers.
More on the European Germany Lotto
It is also one of Europe's old games, right after the French one as its first draw took place on October 9, 1955. A little anecdote, the first winning numbers were 3-12-13-16-23 & 41 and they were pulled out by a young orphan.
At the beginning the German 649 draws were taking place once a day on Sunday. However, since February 2, 1974 draws take place every day.
Need to know on the European German Lotto
The Germany 6-49 started in 1955 and has since created well over 1,500 winners that scooped over €10 Lakh! Every year, the German European lottery hands in over €50 Lakh in prizes!
The European lotteries - from Italy
The Italy Lotto: This is Italy's most reknown game. The Italy Lotto offers a great jackpot of €28 Lakh which you can scoop by guessing all 5 main numbers (from 1 to 90). Its draws take place 3 times a week: on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 08:00 PM which means you won't have to wait too long before checking Lotto Italy's results if you choose to try this amazing European lottery.
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MillionDAY Italy: As its name may suggest, the MillionDAY Italy, offers a €10 Lakh jackpot every day of the week! This is definitely one of the best lottery in Europe as it offers you a chance to become quite ricch, every 24 hours, without having to wait too much for the MillionDAY Italy results.
This is also one of the most interesting daily lotteries around the world! Only a few games offer such an opportunity!
SuperEnalotto: with its 6 prize tiers and 3 draws a week, the SuperEnalotto simply had to be in this list of the biggest lotteries in Europe! To scoop the main prize you have to guess right all 6 main numbers from 1 to 90 and you have a chance in 62,26,14,630 to do so!
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The SuperStar: The SuperStar is the optimized version of the SuperEnalotto’s mentionned above. For a slight increase on the price of your ticket, you will get your jackpot to increase by €20 Lakh as well as the second prize tier by €10 Lakh. That is not all: it also offers 8 additional prize tiers! Secondary prizes are multiplied by 25 to 100 times!
The record jackpot of the SuperStar is of €17.7 Crore!
Which is the European lottery with the best odds?
When you are looking at the odds of winning a lottery, there are 2 types of odds you should consider:
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the overall odds
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the jackpot odds
If we talk about overall odds, the France Loto beats them all as it offers a chance in 6 to scoop one of the prizes! However, the situation is slightly different if we look at jackpot odds. See below.
Which is the European lottery with the best jackpot odds?
As mentionned above, if you look at jackpot odds only, the MillionDAY is ahead as you have a chance in 34,78,761 to scoop the jackpot. This is also combined with a chance in 17 to win any of the prizes. The Italian lottery is followed by the the German Lotto which offers a chance in 1,55,37,573 to scoop the jackpot and a chance in 31 to win a prize overall!
These amazing odds are what makes European lotteries so competitive. They may not offer jackpots as big as the famous American lotteries, but, overall, you have more chances of scooping a European jackpot. Moreover, they are still very large jackpot, the EuroMillions jackpot cap reaching €23 Crore! In comparison, the US Powerball record jackpot reached US$204 Crore but you have a chance in 29,22,01,338 to scoop it and a chance in 24.87 to scoop any prize while the EuroMillions lottery offers a chance in 13,98,38,160 to scoop the first prize but, mostly, a chance in 15 to win a prize overall!
Discover which European lottery is for you by checking the Jackpot odds and overall odds of each of them in the table below:
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EuroMillions
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1 : 13,98,38,160
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1 : 15
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€24 Crore
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EuroJackpot
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1 : 13,98,38,160
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1 : 26
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€12 Crore
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Loto France
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1 : 1,90,68,840
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1 : 6
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€2,4 Crore
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Germany Lotto
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1 : 1,59,49,268
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1 : 31
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€3,77 Crore
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Italy Lotto
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1 : 4,39,49,268
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1 : 18
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€31 Lakh
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MillionDAY
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1 : 34,78,761
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1 : 17
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€10 Lakh*
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SuperEnalotto
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1 : 62,26,14,630
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1 : 20
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€17,77 Crore
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SuperStar
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1 : 56,03,53,16,700
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1 : 16
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€16,55 Crore
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Which less known European lottery can you play online on LottoSmile?
There are some European lotteries which offer great odds and nice jackpots but they may be less known because the jackpots they offer are not the largest in the lottery world. Meet the Spanish lotteries, the Hungarian lotteries and a few more that are worth looking into in the section below: