The EuroMillions was originally set up by the national lotteries of France, Spain and the United Kingdom and was unveiled on Saturday The 7th of February 2004.  The initial EuroMillions draw took place on Friday the 13th of February 2004 in Paris. The United Kingdom, France and Spain were the only nations taking part at first but lotteries from Austria, Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland then signed up to the draw on the 8th of October 2004.

The EuroMillions lottery or the Euro lotto, as it is often known, gathers the stakes of all 9 participating European nations resulting in a considerable Euro Millions lottery jackpot. With the amount of nations joining the EU rising, this will undoubtedly lead to new states signing up to the EuroMillions lottery. An increase in the amount of individuals participating in the EuroMillions will lead to a continuing growth of the already huge Euro Millions lottery jackpots.

How To Play

Every player must choose 5 main numbers from 1 to 50 and 2 “Lucky Star” numbers from 1 to 9.  During the draw, 5 main and 2 lucky star numbers are then pulled out at random from two draw machines containing numbered balls.

EuroMillions Prizes And Odds

The probability of winning the Euro Millions lottery jackpot is a distant 1 in 76 million but the probability of winning a cash prize is a generous 1 in 24.  If the jackpot is not won in a given week, it rolls over to the next week which results in an ever growing EuroMillions prize fund.  New rules introduced on the 9th of February 2007 restrict the number of successive “rollovers” to eleven, with the jackpot rolling down to lower prize levels in the eleventh draw if the prize is not won.

The new rules also established EuroMillions “Super Draws” which take place twice yearly and present jackpots in the region of £100 million.  The difference with “Super Draws” is that the jackpot must be won during the week of the draw; therefore, if there is no ticket matching all the drawn numbers then the top prize will be distributed to the ticket holder(s) in the next winning prize tier.

Notable Euro Millions Wins

•    On 8 February 2008, the “Super Draw” jackpot of €130 million was won by 16 persons who matched the 5 main numbers and 1 “Lucky Star” number.

•    In August 2007, a 40 year old previous Royal Mail postal administrator from Scotland collected a Euro lotto jackpot of €52.6 million.  To date, this is the largest lottery win of all time in the United Kingdom.

•    On 17 November 2006, having rolled over eleven times, the Euro lotto jackpot arrived at €183 million and was divided between 20 blessed ticket buyers.

Choose Your Playing Method

Usually, to partake in the EuroMillions lottery you would have to be a citizen of one of the nine participating member states.  However, with the launch of lottery ticket sales agents you can now obtain your required quantity of EuroMillions tickets online in spite of where you live globally.  If you are looking for a boost in your lottery winning odds, you may like to reflect on signing up to an e-Lottery EuroMillions syndicate.  As an e-Lottery syndicate member you play with a thirty-six times better chance of winning the jackpot in comparison to everyone buying tickets.  With e-Lottery there are very few geographic obstacles preventing members from joining and as a result the existing membership consists of individuals from no fewer than 133 countries.

The El Gordo (The Fat One) Christmas lottery is the most time-honoured lotto draw in Spain with the large percentage of the country’s inhabitants taking part.  In fact, this draw has become a national pastime with 98% of Spain’s inhabitants taking part.  This is not really unexpected when you find out that the El Gordo is the largest prize fund lottery game globally.

The typical Spanish resident spends roughly €73 in the Christmas draw and in 2008 the prize fund is estimated to top a staggering €2.20 billion.  Here are a number of major features of the El Gordo lottery:

·    More than 13,000 prizes are paid out.
·    It is operated by the Spanish Government.
·    There is an excellent 1 in 6 chance of grabbing a cash prize.
·    All prizes are paid out at once and are tax exempt for Spain’s residents.
·    70% of the revenue generated by ticket sales are paid out in cash prizes.

Since way back in December 1812 the Christmas lottery has operated in precisely the same manner year on year.  Two huge sphere-shaped vessels are used; one of them contains tens of thousands of small wooden balls representing all ticket numbers; the other one contains a smaller amount of wooden balls representing the prizes to be drawn. In the Lotería Nacional hall in Madrid, students of the San Ildefonso School (formerly reserved for orphans of public servants) draw the numbers and corresponding prizes, singing the results audibly in front of the public while Spanish radio and television stations transmit the occasion.

Owing to the considerable amount of numbers and prizes, this procedure takes about 3 hours to complete.  In recent years, over 4,800 individual numbers have collected no less than €1,000 per billete (€100 per décimo) in the Christmas draw.  Those individuals who are not fortunate enough to win a cash prize frequently come out with the predictable comment that “it’s health that really matters”. Participants who only get their money back will frequently re-invest the prize in a ticket for El Niño, the second most influential draw, held on the 6th of January each year.

The two container routine is the time-honoured way of drawing the numbers in Spanish lotteries but this method is now set aside only for the celebrated Christmas lottery draw.  The rest of the weekly and 5 other yearly El Gordo draws operate using five vessels with 10 balls in each, from where the winning numbers are selected.

Lottery retailers in Spain mostly only sell tickets for one or two numbers, so the winners of the biggest prizes frequently reside in the same town or district or work for the same company.  In 2005, the winning number was sold in the town of Vic in Catalonia (population 37,825), whose inhabitants scooped in the region of €500 million.

For many years, you could only take part in the El Gordo lottery if you were a Spanish citizen.  However, with the introduction of lottery ticket sales agents you now have the chance to take part in this internationally renowned Spanish national lottery regardless of where you reside in the world.  Some worldwide El Gordo syndicates have also been established to not only allow more people access to this lotto but to boost their odds of winning cash prizes as well.

It is common knowledge that a lotto syndicate is without doubt the wisest way to play a part in any lottery if you are searching for a way to increase your odds of sharing the jackpot. As a matter of fact, in excess of a quarter of all lottery jackpot wins are secured by lotto syndicates. These lottery syndicates are typically put together by groups of work associates or friends who have the single objective of enhancing their chances of winning the lottery. Playing together in this manner allows each member of the syndicate a greater number of winning chances while at the same time making sure expenditure is kept as low as possible.

Playing as a member of a lottery syndicate can come with a significant odds advantage markedly if the syndicate has a larger quantity of people taking part. However, being a member of a lottery syndicate does have its downside.

The first and possibly the most obvious negative quality of a syndicate is the fact that all prize money is split between all members of the syndicate equally. Therefore, the more syndicate members there are, the less cash each of these members will obtain. Owing to this, a sizable lottery syndicate success may only produce enough money for each member to pay for a holiday or a new television; but definitely not enough to quit your job and acquire a private jet! As long as every syndicate member is aware of this prospect then everybody should be content.

The second problem with lottery syndicates is linked to the point made above. Stories can sometimes be found in the newspapers regarding a syndicate member(s) who is reluctant to distribute the syndicate winnings to colleagues and instead tries to keep it. This can undoubtedly be a big issue if the syndicate has been formed without using a legally binding syndicate contract. If this is the set of circumstances, every member of the syndicate has then got to show in legal terms that they have been conned. There have also been instances where a member of a syndicate has lost their share of a syndicate win owing to late or non payment of their entry payment. Situations like these often lead to legal action.

The third setback that may crop up if no official syndicate agreement has been formulated is that of inheritance tax issues. If the controller of the syndicate collects the payout and then “gifts” each member their equal share, then this tax could become an issue for all the syndicate members.

Occurrences like these can be reduced hence making the overall process very much easier. If the syndicate is put together by utilizing a legally binding lottery syndicate agreement then any of the issues emphasized here will no longer be an issue. These syndicate agreements can be downloaded from your lotto provider’s internet site and in many cases can be picked up from your lotto retailer.

There isn’t much doubt that the advantages of joining a lottery syndicate are far greater than any negative points involved. If the syndicate is set up legally as suggested, the only things you genuinely have to lose sleep about are paying your money each week and planning what you will do with the cash when your lotto syndicate gets lucky.

Number of winners:     1 Jackpot Winners
Main Number    01      09      12      17      18
Lucky Star Numbers      (03)      (04)
5     2     £12,232,500.00
5     1     £296,197.90 per winner
5     0     £34,611.30 per winner
4     2     £3,335.50 per winner
4     1     £125.90 per winner
4     0     £53.60 per winner
3     2     £51.40 per winner
3     1     £15.50 per winner
2     2     £16.40 per winner
3     0     £9.40 per winner
1     2     £7.70 per winner
2     1     £5.40 per winner
Total e-Lottery Winnings:     £3,378.80

02      11      13      27      34      43      (25)
Number of winners:     4 Jackpot Winners
Prize for 6 Balls =     £2,372,400.00
5 & Bonus Prize =     £104,281.00 per winner
Prize for 5 Balls =     £1,063.00 per winner
Prize for 4 Balls =     £51.00 per winner
Prize for 3 Balls =     £10.00 per winner
Total e-Lottery Winnings:     £760.00

At some stage in December 2008 eLottery will be adding the El Gordo to its product range giving participants worldwide a much greater probability of receiving a share in this enormous Spanish lottery prize fund.

If this is the first time you have heard about the El Gordo lottery, let me point out just how important this lottery is to the vast majority of the Spanish population.  The El Gordo lottery has been a national obsession in Spain since 1812 with huge interest generated by the Christmas draw each year.  Believe it or not, 98% of the population play this Spanish National lottery each Christmas.

There are several underlying reasons why so many Spanish people play a part in the Christmas El Gordo draw.  Firstly, there is the incentive of the largest lotto prize fund of any international lottery - 2.20 Billion Euros!  Secondly, there are in excess of 13,000 cash prizes available.  Lastly, the likelihood of winning a cash prize in the Christmas game are a very generous 1 in 6.

With the level of attention that is paid to the Christmas El Gordo lottery draw, many people are unaware that there are 5 additional El Gordo draws every year as well.  These take place in January, March, May, July and November.  Even though these 5 draws do not have the massive prize fund of the Christmas game, they are substantial nonetheless, ranging from 78 million Euros to 655 million Euros.  In addition, these games offer roughly three times as many prizes as the Christmas draw and odds of picking up a cash prize of an amazing 1 in 3.

The Spanish Christmas Lottery works differently to the majority of other lottery games. A whole ticket ‘billete’ is very pricey, costing 200 Euros.  However, these tickets are divided up into ten ‘decimos’ (tenths) each costing 20 Euros.  When buying your tickets you have the choice of buying a single decimo, a complete ticket, or a share of a ticket.  If you don’t acquire the entire ticket, someone else will purchase the remainder of your ticket.  For example, if you obtain two decimos, someone else purchases three and someone else buys five and your ticket scoops 1000 Euros, then you will win 200 Euros, 300 Euros and 500 Euros correspondingly.  Owing to the price tag of buying an entire ticket, it is typical for families and friends to combine their lottery cash and each purchase a single ‘decimo’ (tenth).

The chances of winning a cash prize in the El Gordo lottery are tremendous but if you choose to play as a member of one of e-Lottery’s El Gordo syndicates you will hold a 20 times better prospect of sharing cash prizes in each draw.

Unveil the full benefits of playing the El Gordo as a member of an e-Lottery syndicate and revel in the excitement of this mammoth Spanish National lottery.

18      19      25      30      33      43      (04)
Number of winners:     3 Jackpot Winners
Prize for 6 Balls =     £4,773,270.00
5 & Bonus Prize =     £209,814.00 per winner
Prize for 5 Balls =     £2,211.00 per winner
Prize for 4 Balls =     £75.00 per winner
Prize for 3 Balls =     £10.00 per winner
Total e-Lottery Winnings:     £640.00

03      18      25      34      41
(02)      (05)
Number of winners:     2 Jackpot Winners
Main Number     Lucky Star Numbers
5     2     £34,072,304.00
5     1     £203,760.30 per winner
5     0     £77,098.50 per winner
4     2     £2,664.60 per winner
4     1     £165.10 per winner
4     0     £91.10 per winner
3     2     £47.60 per winner
3     1     £20.80 per winner
2     2     £13.90 per winner
3     0     £14.00 per winner
1     2     £5.90 per winner
2     1     £6.60 per winner
Total e-Lottery Winnings:     £3,442.30

Coming Soon And Only Weeks Away!
The ElGordo e-lottery From VWD.

06     10     12     15     20     27     (26)
Number of winners:     4 Jackpot Winners
Prize for 6 Balls =     £1,953,464.00
5 & Bonus Prize =     £31,635.00 per winner
Prize for 5 Balls =     £570.00 per winner
Prize for 4 Balls =     £29.00 per winner
Prize for 3 Balls =     £10.00 per winner
Total e-Lottery Winnings:     £2,788.00