Play EuroJackpot in South Africa

When lottery players think of massive European lotteries, one of the first lotteries that pops into mind is EuroMillions, Europe’s biggest lottery. However, if you dig just a little deeper and try to find out what other European lotteries are worth your time, you may find that EuroJackpot is an underrated dark horse that many players perceive is better than the EuroMillions in many aspects.

In this article, we are going to take a look at all things EuroJackpot. Starting with a little bit of the history of this lottery and how it came to be, we will look at various facets of the EuroJackpot lottery from the perspective of a South African player. We will discuss how the EuroJackpot works, how you play it, where you can buy tickets, how to claim prizes, the odds of the prizes offered and even look into some commonly asked questions regarding the EuroJackpot.

In terms of the history of the lottery, the EuroJackpot does not date as far back as the EuroMillions. In fact, the EuroJackpot is the latest European lottery. It was launched in March of 2012, which is rather recent when compared to big-hitting, international acclaimed lotteries like EuroMillions, Mega Millions or the US PowerBall.

Nine European national lottery organizations came to an agreement to form the EuroJackpot, which originated in Amsterdam. The nine founding countries were then accompanied by four more countries which joined the EuroJackpot force in February of 2013 and later years. Currently, the participating countries are – Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. To find out more about international lotteries, consult our guide.

The first ticket sales for the EuroJackpot went live on March 17th, 2012 and the first-ever EuroJackpot draw took place on March 23rd 2012. Even though the EuroMillions is a bigger lottery in terms of the jackpot size, the EuroJackpot covers a larger population since the number of participating countries are greater for the EuroJackpot.

A format change was announced in October of 2014 in which the range from which players could pick the additional two numbers called the Euronumbers was increased from 1 – 8 to 1 – 10. The wider range resulted in the odds of winning the jackpot reducing from 1:59,325,280 to 1 in 95,344,200.

Of all the participating countries, the only country that takes part in both the EuroMillions and the EuroJackpot is Spain. Spain joined the EuroJackpot starting 30th June 2021 with the ticket concession being granted to the National Organization of Spanish Blind People (ONCE).

Is it Possible to Play EuroJackpot from South Africa?

Going by the official rules and regulations mentioned in the EuroJackpot website, players from anywhere in the world are welcome to participate in the EuroJackpot lottery. Therefore, South African players can legally play the EuroJackpot lottery. Just because there are a certain number of participating European countries, it does not imply that only citizens or nationals of these countries are allowed to play. It only means that the tickets are physically only sold in these countries.

However, players based in the UK, South Africa, etc. where tickets are not sold in retail shops, will be able to play the EuroJackpot through online means. As long as the player is of legal age in his or her jurisdiction, there is nothing to stop them from participating in the EuroJackpot through the official EuroJackpot online partner – Lottoland, or other independent, third party lottery service providers.

How Does it work?

If you are based in South Africa and want to know how playing the EuroJackpot online works, you are at the right place. One of the best options for South African players to participate in the EuroJackpot is by the means of third-party lottery service providers. There are various options when it comes to playing online and it also includes Lottoland, which is the official online partner of this jackpot.

The way these services work is pretty simple. Players need to register for an account with the service providers website. The registration process generally involves divulging certain personal information and contact information to create an account. Once an account is created, players can login and play various supported lotteries from around the world, no matter where they are based.

You can choose your lucky numbers through the website and pay for your ticket through online payment solutions (credit card, debit card, bank transfer, and e-wallets). Once the payment is successful, a representative of the lottery service will actually buy the ticket in person on your behalf. Depending on which country’s lottery you choose to play, an agent-based in that specific country will visit a retailer, buy the ticket with the same numbers you specified and then send you a scanned copy of the ticket.

Online lottery purchasing services will charge an extra fee on top of the price of the ticket. This is generally referred to as a convenience fee or commission. Below, we discuss some of the pros and cons of playing the EuroJackpot through online lottery purchasing websites.

Game Details

The EuroJackpot is a transaction lottery game that is based on luck. Players can buy tickets to the EuroJackpot in one of the 18 participating countries or via online lottery service websites. The EuroJackpot offers 12 different prizes which are up for grabs in every draw. The jackpot is a rollover jackpot that is carried forward to the next draw if there isn’t any jackpot winner. The minimum guaranteed jackpot is 10 million Euros, but it can roll over when there is no winner until it reaches a maximum jackpot value of 90 million Euros. The draw happens once a week.

How to Play

EuroJackpot is one of the easiest lotteries to play. Since there are no add-on games or ways in which players can get multiple lower tier prizes, playing is very straight forward. In total, a player will have to pick 5 main numbers and 2 additional numbers called the Euronumbers. The five main numbers each have to be a distinct number between 1 – 50 and the 2 Euronumbers must be picked between a range of 1 – 10. The Euronumbers cannot be the same as each other but can overlap with the main numbers.

When it comes to choosing the numbers, it is completely luck based and there are a couple of options. You can choose some numbers randomly which you may consider lucky or use the online quick pick option where the algorithm randomly selects all your main numbers and the two Euronumbers as well.

How to Buy a Ticket

If you are based in one of the 18 participating European countries, you will be able to buy the EuroJackpot ticket in person at numerous approved retail venues. As long as you are of legal age in that particular jurisdiction, you can buy a ticket for just €2.

In the case of players who are not based in one of the participating countries, there are a myriad of online lottery websites which sell EuroJackpot tickets. Lottoland is the official online partner of EuroJackpot and players can buy tickets through this website.

There are also other well known and trusted online lottery ticket purchasing websites such as jackpot.com, the Lotter, Lotto Agent, Lotto Send and Giant Lottos. All of these online services will cater to South African nationals or foreigners based in South Africa.

Draw Dates

The EuroJackpot draw happens only once a week. Even through the EuroJackpot was inspired by the EuroMillions, it did not adopt the two-per-week draw model which lotteries like EuroMillions, Mega Millions and US Powerball use. There are speculations that a second draw date every week could be added in the near future, but there is no official statement from the participating countries regarding this yet.

The EuroJackpot draw takes place every Friday at 9p.m. local time in Helsinki (Eastern European Summer Time).For South Africans, this is 8pm, Friday local South African time.

Irrespective on where the ticket has been brought, all winning tickets are subject to evaluation in either Germany or Denmark.

EuroJackpot Odds

The EuroJackpot offers a top jackpot prize which is the most elusive, but it also offers another 11 different lower-tier prizes and many of these have pretty decent odds. The lower the prize value, the better the odds.

The minimum guaranteed jackpot in the EuroMillions is €10 million. However, if there is no winning ticket, the money gets rolled over to the next draw. The jackpot money can keep rolling over this way until it reaches a maximum value of €90 million. To win the jackpot, all 5 main numbers and the 2 Euronumbers should match.

The lower-tier prizes are also pretty substantial. The second prize can fetch players just over €884,000 on average. In order to win the second prize, players will have to match all five main numbers and 1 of the 2 Euronumbers.

The third-tier prize can also be a considerable sum of money, over a hundred thousand Euros on average. The third prize is won by matching the main five numbers.

The prize with the best odds of winning is the 12th tier prize where a player will need to match any 2 main numbers and 1 euro number.

The odds and estimated value for each of the prizes have been tabulated below.

What Happens if you Win and How to Claim the Money

All winning tickets are first evaluated in Germany or Denmark, irrespective of where the ticket was purchased. Once the evaluation is completed and the win is confirmed, players can claim the money. The process to claim the money may vary depending on which country the winning ticket was purchased from. The tax applied will also depend on the country where the ticket was purchased.

Where Can I Buy Tickets From?

Tickets can be purchased at retail outlets that are approved to sell tickets in any of the 18 participating countries. Players who are not based in one of the 18 countries can buy tickets online through the official online partner of EuroJackpot, Lottoland. Players may also use other third-party lottery websites such as the Lotter, Jackpot.com, Lotto Agent, Giant Lottos and Lotto Send.

Biggest Jackpots Won with EuroJackpot

The highest number of jackpot-winning tickets have come out of Germany. The EuroJackpot top prize is €10 million, but the jackpot can rollover till a maximum of €90 million. The top prize of €90 million has been won 7 times thus far. The jackpot in general has been won 5 times in 2021 already.

The first time that the €90 million jackpot was won was on May15th in 2015 when a person from Czech Republic clinched the max payout possible.

Why Play EuroJackpot

Lottery veterans actually prefer a lottery like EuroJackpot to a bigger lottery like EuroMillions. This is because lesser people actually take part in a lower value jackpot, which means that prizes won usually don’t have to be split. One of the main reasons to play the EuroJackpot is because you have the Number Sheild option (when you play through Lottoland). Using this option, if you win the jackpot, the entire pot is yours irrespective of how many other players got the winning numbers.