Decoding France's EuroMillions and My Millions Raffle

Overview

The French EuroMillions lottery works slightly differently to the one found in other countries, as players are automatically entered into a secondary raffle with a €1 million prize.

Known as My Millions, this draw has a guaranteed payout with each EuroMillions draw, which takes place at 20.45 on Tuesday and Friday evenings, Paris time.

A Little History

While the main EuroMillions lottery has been running since 2004, in 2013 the French operator decided to make sure that a local ticket won a big prize with every single draw. My Millions has run since February 2014 when the price of a French ticket went from €2 to €2.50 and the guaranteed prize was added.

How It Works

Players buy their tickets in the normal way and need to do nothing more to enter. It doesn't affect their EuroMillions entry which runs in parallel to the My Millions raffle, and French tickets have just as much chance of winning any of the prizes as those bought anywhere else. As well as the main EuroMillions number, tickets bought in France will display a My Millions code, and following each draw, a random code is picked from all of the ones generated by ticket sales.

Normally, that single ticket will win the €1 million, and players need to check both codes as the same ticket could also have winning EuroMillions numbers on it.

Unlike most lotteries where the jackpot can roll over if no player matches all the numbers, the My Millions will pay out each time. This means that the odds of winning depend on how many tickets are sold in France for that particular draw, so if 10,000,000 French tickets have been purchased, then the odds of a ticket being picked for the My Millions prize is 1 in 10,000,000.

The codes consist of two letters followed by six numbers, which is enough to ensure that no two are the same, but players do not need to spend time picking numbers as they are automatically generated. If multiple lines are added to a EuroMillions ticket, multiple entries to the My Millions raffle will be made alongside them. The standard EuroMillions combination of 5 main numbers from 50, and 2 lucky numbers from 11 still apply,

Winning My Millions codes will be advertised along with the main EuroMillions numbers, and will need to be claimed within 90 days of the draw. Tickets bought online through agents such as Online-Lottery-Tickets, or The Lotter, will also qualify for the My Millions jackpot, and anyone who purchased a ticket this way will be notified of their win by email. Online players just need to be aware of the time difference from Paris and their location.

Special Draws

Every month or so there will be special drawings where a number of My Millions codes will be selected, making several French residents into millionaires in one go. Sometimes there are just a couple of extra winners, while other times there can be 10 or more, and it all depends on what promotions are being run by the French lottery authorities.