what are the odds of winning the euromillions
The odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are about 1 in 139,838,160, while the odds of winning any prize at all are about 1 in 13.
Quick Scoop: What Are the Odds of Winning the EuroMillions?
Basic odds (no fluff)
- Odds of hitting the jackpot (5 numbers + 2 Lucky Stars) : about 1 in 139,838,160.
- Odds of winning any prize (even a small one): about 1 in 13.
- You always pick 5 numbers from 1–50 and 2 Lucky Stars from 1–12 for each line you play.
In other words, you’re much more likely to win a small prize than the jackpot—but the game is still heavily stacked against you overall.
Prize tiers and their odds
Here’s how the main EuroMillions prize tiers break down.
| Match | Approx. odds |
|---|---|
| 5 numbers + 2 Lucky Stars (jackpot) | 1 in 139,838,160 | [7][1][3][5]
| 5 numbers + 1 Lucky Star | 1 in 6,991,908 | [1][3][5][7]
| 5 numbers only | 1 in 3,107,515 | [3][5][7][1]
| 4 numbers + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 621,503 | [5][7][1][3]
| 4 numbers + 1 Lucky Star | ≈1 in 31,075–31,076 | [7][1][3][5]
| 3 numbers + 2 Lucky Stars | ≈1 in 14,125–14,126 | [1][3][5][7]
| 4 numbers only | ≈1 in 13,811–13,812 | [3][5][7][1]
| 2 numbers + 2 Lucky Stars | ≈1 in 985–986 | [5][7][1][3]
| 3 numbers + 1 Lucky Star | ≈1 in 706–707 | [7][1][3][5]
| 3 numbers only | 1 in 314 | [1][3][5][7]
| 1 number + 2 Lucky Stars | 1 in 188 | [3][5][7][1]
| 2 numbers + 1 Lucky Star | ≈1 in 49–50 | [5][7][1][3]
| 2 numbers only | 1 in 22 | [7][1][3][5]
How those odds are worked out
EuroMillions uses combinations: how many different ways you can choose numbers from the pools.
- Main numbers: the number of ways to pick 5 from 50 is (505)\binom{50}{5}(550).
- Lucky Stars: the number of ways to pick 2 from 12 is (122)\binom{12}{2}(212).
Multiply those together and you get the total number of possible unique lines, which is 139,838,160, so a single line has a 1 in 139,838,160 chance of matching the exact winning combination.
Realistic perspective (and a quick story-style view)
Imagine a huge stadium that can hold 140 million people, and only one seat wins the jackpot—that’s roughly where you stand with one EuroMillions line.
Some players treat it as a tiny “dream tax”:
- They buy a ticket now and then for fun.
- They expect to lose, but enjoy the fantasy of “what if I won?” for a couple of days.
Others choose not to play at all because the math is so brutal, preferring to save or invest the money instead.
As of recent years, EuroMillions has created many multimillionaires across its nine participating countries, but these are very rare outliers compared to the number of tickets sold.
Forum-style takeaway
“If you play EuroMillions, treat it like paying for a short daydream, not a retirement plan.”
- Jackpot odds: extremely low.
- Small-prize odds: still low, but far less extreme.
- Overall: fun if you keep it affordable, risky if you rely on it for money.
TL;DR: The odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are about 1 in 139.8 million, and the odds of winning any prize are about 1 in 13—so play only what you can comfortably afford to lose.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
