Despite the fact that technical progress has become an integral part of the contemporary gambling industry, the customers’ interest towards good old lotteries have always been great. The EuroMillions lottery is currently played in nine European countries, with its draws taking place every Tuesday and Friday evening.
As mentioned above, up to date the EuroMillion Lottery takes place in nine countries across Europe, including the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Over the years, there are hundreds of players who have become a few millions richer, with the most popular lottery in Europe sometimes offering some epic record-breaking jackpot prizes to its winners.
As far as the total number of winners is concerned, so far jackpots of the largest European lottery have been won by 371 people in nine countries. France is the country that is on top of the ranking, with a total of 85 jackpot winners. Spain is next in line, with 82 jackpot winners, followed by the UK with 67 and Portugal with 66. Belgium takes the fifth position in the ranking, with a total of 29 jackpot winners. Then come Switzerland and Austria, with 15 and 14 jackpot winners, respectively, followed by the Republic of Ireland with 11. Luxembourg is the country that has seen the smallest number of jackpot winners so far, with only two individuals having won EuroMillion jackpots to date.
However, when as far as the biggest winners in the history of EuroMillions are taken into account, there are two countries which are on top of the list. The UK and Portugal have seen the largest EuroMillions winners to date, with two jackports of €190 million being hit.
First, the enormous €190 million jackpot was won in the UK on August 8th, 2012. The happy winners were Adrian and Gillian Bayford from Haverhill, Suffolk, who currently hold the record of the maximum amount won by EuroMillions players so far, due to the fact that lottery winnings in the UK are tax-free.
The second EuroMillions jackpot amounting to €190 million was won on October 24th, 2014 by an anonymous player from Portugal. The name of the winner was not revealed, but it became clear they originated from the municipality of Castelo Branco.
The third biggest EuroMillions jackpot winners so far come from the UK, too. Collin and Chris Weir scooped a €185-million jackpot on July 12th, 2011 with this jackpot win breaking the record at the time the draw took place. An interesting fact is that the Weirs are actually the largest EuroMillion winners so far, but the declining value of the Euro in terms of pounds Sterling in the period 2011/2012 undermined their result. If this decline is taken into account, the Weirs would have the lead.
Number four in the ranking of the largest EuroMillions winners in history is taken by an anonymous winner from France, who won a total of €169.8 million on November 13th, 2012. This has made the winner undoubtedly the richest EuroMillions winner so far, as there is still no other player who has managed to hit a bigger jackpot. The winner decided not to reveal their identity, but local media has reported they were from Alpes-Maritime.
The fifth largest EuroMillions jackpot winner comes from Portugal. The winners, an anonymous couple from the city of Coimbra, managed to hit a massive jackpot of €163.5 million on November 20th, 2015 and are now among the richest jackpot winners of the EuroMillions lottery.
- Author
Daniel Williams
