Lottery News

A lucky person from France is going to experience some life-changing moments after scooping up the €220 million (US$256 million) EuroMillions jackpot on Friday, which holds the record for the largest prize in the history of the game.

A single ticket in France won the largest EuroMillions Jackpot the game has ever seen at a mark of €220 million. Lottery players all across Europe swamped to buy tickets for the record drawing held on Friday, October 15, and the sales saw a huge spike following the gigantic jackpot climbing to new heights after there was no winner to the previous draw.

This one lucky person in France has 60 days from Friday to come forward and claim the prize. According to The Sunday Times Rich List, the winner is already wealthier than English singer and songwriter Adele, whose net worth is €154 million (US$179.37 million). The winning numbers for the record-making EuroMillions were 21, 26, 31, 34, and 49, with Lucky Stars 2 and 5.

The last EuroMillions jackpot to climb this high was the €210 million (US$244.73 million) prize, drawn on February 26. This jackpot made headlines around the world when one British couple was informed that their ticket held the winning numbers for the draw, but the payment for their ticket that held the winning numbers for the draw but the payment for the ticket did not get cleared due to insufficient funds in the winner's bank account. The winnings were then claimed by a winner in Switzerland.

The game EuroMillions has a jackpot cap of €220 million. Once it reaches this amount, the jackpot will not roll and stay at the same level for the next four drawings. The pool is shared among ticket holders at the next prize tier of winners.

Luckily for this player, that rule did not come into effect. The jackpot reached its cap after the drawing on Friday, October 8, and was not won for one single drawing on Tuesday, October 12 before getting scooped up by the ticket holder in France.

Currently, Euromillions is available in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

All the lottery prizes including the jackpot, are tax-free (except in Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal) and are paid as a lump sum. So if you are hailing anywhere from there, you can always give your luck a second chance by holding the winning lottery ticket in your hand!