Jackpot Pool Cap

It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then the Euro Millions jackpot just rolls and rolls and often exceeds the €100 million mark. It’s not until this happens that players remember the Euro Millions Jackpot Pool Cap and the chase to win the jackpot becomes more urgent than ever. So how does the Euro Millions cap work and just what does it mean for lottery players buying lottery tickets for the big Euro Millions Lottery draws?

The first Euro Millions cap was set at €185 million in the nine Euro Millions countries, and exchange rates made no difference to the cap. So if the exchange is generous the sterling jackpot can be bigger or smaller than the last time it reached it’s cap, but it did cap when it reached the €185 million in euro totals. Sterling totals are not taken into consideration, so to find out if the Euro Millions cap is almost reached, you must check the euro jackpot total. For the second time that the Euromillions cap is met the amount will be €190 million with a subsequent instance of the cap being reached seeing it hit the heady heights of €195 million. The rules state that once a cap is reached any subsequent cap will increase by €5 million.

The first thing to remember about the Euro Millions cap is that the Euro Millions jackpot will never exceed it, but players will always win the entire prize fund. So even if the Euro Millions has rolled and rolled, then no amount of the jackpot is ever held back, or taken by the lottery company. In the event that the jackpot exceeds the cap, everything over the Euro Millions cap will roll down to the next division, which could mean a profitable night for those matching five main balls and just one lucky star. However should there be no winners with five main balls and just one lucky star then the excess prize fund over the cap will roll down again to the prize tier where there is at least one winner.

Whatever happens, the Euro Millions cap means a lot of luck for lottery players, with the second division prize constantly being bumped up by the extra ticket sales as lottery players desperately try out for the big jackpot. If the cap continues to roll it means that every week it rolls, lower prize tier winners will be taking home more money than usual.

However, on the 17th February 2012 the rules surrounding the Euromillions Jackpot Pool Cap changed. No longer will the cap increase by €5 million every time it is reached, instead it now stays at the fixed amount of €190 million. Once reached it will stay at this amount for two consecutive draws and after those two draws, if no top prize winner is found the Euromillions jackpot will roll down and shared amongst players in the next winning prize tier.