Never has such an astronomical sum been involved in France!
Friday, a jackpot of 200 million euros will be offered to Euro Millions, the European lottery federating 9 countries (France, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg).
Because during the draw on Tuesday evening, the jackpot of 178 million euros did not find a taker, no bettor having checked the 5 correct numbers (14, 20, 29, 47, 49) and the 2 stars ( 4, 12).
In France, around 5 million players have tried their luck.
So far, the biggest jackpot in this game has reached 190 million euros, which has been won four times in the past (twice in the UK in 2012 and 2019, once in Portugal in 2014 and once in another time in Spain in 2017).
He absolutely could not exceed that amount.
But last February, the very complex cap rules were revised, thus raising the maximum jackpot.
It is now possible, if luck plays damn overtime and after many conditions, to win up to 250 million euros at Euro Millions.
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Big Loto winners: how the Française des jeux takes care of them
In France, the record for winning this very popular lottery stands at nearly € 170 million, a sum collected in 2012 by a lucky man from the Alpes-Maritimes.
It is ahead of the loot of € 163 million won in 2011 in Calvados and that of € 157 million which brought happiness, on September 1, to a couple from the Bas-Rhin.
If France has never tasted the maximum jackpot, it remains the European champion in the number of rank 1 wins.
Since the birth of Euro Millions in 2004, it has in fact recorded 109 big winners against 108 for the United Kingdom and 105 for Spain.
The absolute record of earnings on the Old Continent goes to Italy, which is not one of the member countries of Euro Millions: in August 2019, the holder of a € 2 Superenalotto ticket validated near Milan , thus, found at the head of a fortune of 209 M €.
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Euro Millions: he announces to his wife that he has won 30 million euros, she thinks it's a joke!
In the world, the most generous treasure fallen from the sky has been pocketed in the United States.
In October 2018, a jackpot of 1.537 billion dollars (1.28 billion euros) put into play by the Mega Millions went to a resident of South Carolina.
The latter, supported by an army of lawyers and financiers, waited for no less than 131 days before making herself known, in order to ensure that she could maintain her anonymity.
In the end, this American woman, richer than wealthy, had the choice between receiving this incredible sum over 30 years or being immediately credited in the sum of $ 878 million.
It opted for this second option which, after payment of taxes (very high on the other side of the Atlantic on games of chance), turned into a payment of $ 400 million.