How does the Eurojackpot game work? Join the ranks of millionaires

How to play Eurojackpot step by step

The rules are the same in every country participating in the lottery. Below is the sequence of steps for a player joining the game for the first time.

1. Check that you are at least 18 years old — participation in Totalizator Sportowy's number games is reserved for adults.
2. Choose 5 numbers from the first pool, covering numbers from 1 to 50.
3. Choose 2 additional numbers from the second pool, covering numbers from 1 to 12.
4. Decide how many consecutive draws your stake should take part in. The same set of numbers can be entered for several draws in advance.
5. Pay for the stake. A single stake costs PLN 12.50, so a coupon with three stakes costs PLN 37.50.
6. Keep your proof of purchase — without it there is no way to collect a potential prize.
7. After the draw, compare your numbers with the official results. Prizes are paid out within the deadline set out in the game's rules.

When do Eurojackpot draws take place

Until March 2022, draws took place once a week, on Fridays. The lottery now has two dates: Tuesday and Friday. The draw is held in Helsinki around 8:00 PM Polish time, and results are published immediately after it ends.

Sales of stakes for a given draw close before it begins — the exact closing time is set out in the rules and is worth checking at the point of sale or on Totalizator Sportowy's official website. A stake paid for after that deadline takes part only in the next draw.

For comparison: the domestic Lotto is drawn on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays around 10:00 PM. The schedules of the two games don't overlap, so the draw days are easy to mix up.

How much does a stake cost and what does that price include

A single Eurojackpot stake costs PLN 12.50. This amount covers both the contribution to the prize pool and the mandatory surcharge for public purposes, collected in accordance with the Gambling Act.

You can mark several stakes on a coupon, and each is counted separately. It's worth calculating the cost before filling in the coupon, because with several number sets entered for several draws the amount grows faster than it seems: five stakes for four draws already comes to PLN 250.

What are the odds of winning

The number of all possible combinations in Eurojackpot follows directly from the rules of the game. There are 2,118,760 combinations of 5 numbers out of 50, and 66 combinations of 2 numbers out of 12. Multiplied together, this gives 139,838,160 equally likely sets.

• First-tier prize (5 + 2): one chance in 139,838,160.
• Second-tier prize (5 + 1): one chance in 6,991,908.
• Third-tier prize (5 + 0): one chance in 3,107,515.
• The lowest, twelfth prize tier (2 + 1): one chance in roughly 42.

Each draw is independent of the previous ones. A number that hasn't come up for a long time does not have a higher chance of being drawn because of that — statistics from past draws describe the past, not the future. No way of filling in a coupon changes the probability of a hit.

Prize tiers and prize amounts

Eurojackpot has twelve prize tiers. The amounts are not fixed in advance — apart from the lowest tiers, these are pool prizes, meaning they depend on the number of stakes sold across all of Europe and on the number of winning coupons in a given draw. The same number of hits can therefore mean a different payout in two different weeks.

If no one hits the first-tier prize in a given draw, the amount rolls over to the next draw and forms a jackpot. The game's rules set an upper limit on the main prize; once it is reached, the surplus feeds the lower prize tiers.

Coupons from all participating countries go into one shared pool. The place where a stake was bought has no effect on the chance of winning or on the prize amount.

Which countries can you play in

Eurojackpot launched in 2012 as a cross-border lottery. Poland joined the ranks of participants in September 2017, and Totalizator Sportowy operates the game on the Polish market. More European countries joined the lottery over time, which steadily increased the prize pool and the number of stakes sold.

A prize won at a Polish point of sale is paid out in zloty, after converting the amount expressed in euro at the rate specified in the game's rules. The lottery operator publishes the current list of participating countries.

What to remember before buying a coupon

Eurojackpot is a game of chance, not a way to make money. Spending on a coupon is an entertainment cost, and the budget for it should be treated that way — set in advance and independent of whether previous stakes brought anything back.

Participation in the game is allowed only for adults. If playing stops being entertainment, it's worth seeking help — the free Behavioural Addictions Helpline operates at 801 889 880.

All the game parameters listed above — the stake price, the draw schedule and the prize tiers — may change along with updates to the rules. Before buying a coupon, it's worth verifying them against the sources listed below.