skip to Main Content

Third UK EuroMillions Jackpot Winner In Four Months

euromillions ticket close up with penA UK ticketholder has won the Friday, September 22 EuroMillions lottery jackpot. Confirmation of the £171 million payout came one day after the draw had taken place. The name of the ticketholder is not yet public information. Should that victor be a single player, the payout would make them one of the richest people in the country.

The UK seems to have been getting more than its fair share of big winners this year, considering nine countries partake in the EuroMillions. Altogether, 16 people from the UK have taken home more than £100 million from this game. The prize fund from this latest draw is the third largest won by a UK gamer.

It was in July of this year that a UK ticketholder secured the biggest ever win. That saw them take home £195 million. And that victory occurred two months after another big victory of £180 million.

Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester were the lucky players to secure that jackpot. According to the pair, they were intending to go on a round-the-world holiday with the winnings. This latest big victory for a UK player marks three large payouts in a short timeframe of just 4 months. Especially when you consider that before 2022, the biggest win occurred in 2019. And before that, more than £100 million went to a Cambridgeshire couple in 2012.

Why is it that three large EuroMillions jackpot payouts have come to UK gamers since May? Is there something that has happened with the lottery to make these jackpots grow in the UK?

There is a Cap in Place

two hundred million green numbers

Even though it may not seem like it, the EuroMillions jackpot does have a cap. Or at least, it did. A rule change in January 2012 meant that the cap was set at €190,000 on a permanent basis. If the jackpot is not won after two draws, prize money goes to winners at the next level. In 2016, the rule went through another change. If the jackpot isn’t won after five draws, only then is it distributed to the next level. At the same time, the lowest jackpot win increased from €15 million to €17 million.

A new cap was then introduced in February 2020. The new cap was set at €200 million, but it is no longer fixed. Should the jackpot reach €200 million, it will cycle for five draws as standard. If no winners occur after that fifth draw, the jackpot pays out to the lower tier. For the next cycle, the jackpot cap increases to €210,000,000. Again, it pays out to the lower tier if there is no winner. Then, later cycles see the cap increase to €220 million, €230 million etc.

The highest level that this has reached occurred on July 8, 2022. At the time, the cap had hit €230 million. This was the amount won in the United Kingdom in July of 2022, equating to £195,707,000.

Doubtless, the fact that the cap is no longer fixed has had an impact.  If there is no real fixed cap on the amount that is available, then it can raise to new heights. And because more countries are playing than in the formative years, this has an effect. After all, this spreads out the potential victory field amongst more people. More people playing a game means more tickets are in action. So many different combinations of numbers on tickets can occur.

The current selection of European countries involved in the EuroMillions draws today are:

  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Spain
  • Portugal
  • Ireland
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Austria
  • Luxembourg

Further to this, the price of tickets has also increased. In the United Kingdom, a EuroMillions ticket cost £1.50 per line in the beginning. This increased to £2.00 per line in 2009, and then to £2.50 in 2016. It also rose to €2.50 per line in Ireland and Spain in 2009, bringing them level with other EU countries. Of course, the increase in ticket price will heighten the possible payout, too.

Only three countries were participating in the original draws in February 2004. Those were the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Yet by October of that year, the lotteries from the other six countries joined in on the game.

Notable EuroMillions Payouts in History

jackpotThe largest jackpot win of over €115.4 million came to an Irish player – Dolores McNamara. And that victory came about in July 2005. Unfortunately, her luck since winning the EuroMillions has floundered. In April of 2021, her husband Adrian passed away after going through heart surgery. During his recovery, he acquired an illness that he wasn’t able to battle. It didn’t take long for McNamara to suffer further problems.

In September 2021, her daughter appeared in court on cocaine charges. Kevanne McNamara had a property purchased by her mother after the lottery win. It was there that the Irish police found her with a quantity of the drug. Not long after that, one of her sons, Gary, faced an assault charge in court. Back in 2009, one of her other sons, Dean, ended up in jail for drug driving.

Take a look at some other notable wins below.

Rank Date Prize Value in £ Country
1 July 19, 2022 £195,707,000 United Kingdom
2 October 15, 2021 £185,548,000 France
3 May 10, 2022 £184,263,000 United Kingdom
4 February 26, 2021 £182,028,000 Switzerland
5 December 11, 2020 £183,120,000 France
6 October 6, 2017 £170,810,000 Spain
7 October 8, 2019 £170,221,000 United Kingdom

Any victory that occurred before February 2020 adhered to the previous rules. Thus, the payout could not exceed the €190,000,000 cap in place at the time. It was only in December of 2020 that the new non-fixed cap hit with the player from France.

Of the total revenue from the EuroMillions, 50% of it goes to winners. Charitable causes receive 28% of it and, in the UK, 12% goes to the government. The remaining funds go to retailers, to Camelot and for operating costs. Different countries involved may split this money up in a different way.

Back To Top