Euromillions Lottery

EuroMillions in the Netherlands: How to Play, Prizes and the 2026 Changes

EuroMillions is the big pan-European lottery, drawn twice a week across nine countries with jackpots that climb into the hundreds of millions. The rules are simple, which is most of its appeal: match five numbers and two stars and you take the top prize. There's one thing Dutch players need to settle first, though, because it shapes everything else on this page. You cannot legally buy a EuroMillions ticket inside the Netherlands. The reasons, the workarounds, the prize structure, and the major overhaul landing in late 2026 are all below.

Can you play EuroMillions in the Netherlands?

Not from within the country. Buying tickets from a foreign lottery is illegal in the Netherlands, where only operators with a Dutch licence may sell. EuroMillions has no Dutch licence, so it isn't offered here. The licensed pan-European alternative is Eurojackpot, which is run through Nederlandse Loterij and works on a similar match-numbers-and-extra-balls principle.

If you specifically want EuroMillions, the practical routes are physical or cross-border. Tickets are sold in shops in Belgium, so a trip across the border gets you a paper ticket from a point of sale. Some players also buy online through the Belgian National Lottery. Either way, you're playing under Belgian or another country's rules, not Dutch ones, so the consumer protections you'd get from a KSA-licensed game don't apply. For the wider picture on what's licensed here, see our rundown of Dutch lotteries and the role of the regulator. 

How EuroMillions works

You pick five main numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars from 1 to 12. Draws happen every Tuesday and Friday, including public holidays, with five balls drawn from the pool of 50 and two stars from the 12. The draw takes place in Paris under the supervision of an independent auditor, organised by the French operator. It isn't open to the public, but results are published the same night through the national lotteries of participating countries.

Entries have to be validated before the cut-off on draw day. You can play a single line or commit to several consecutive draws if you don't want to risk missing one. Quick Pick handles the choosing if you'd rather leave it to random selection.

Prize tiers and odds

There are 13 prize tiers. Matching just two main numbers already lands you a small prize, and it scales up from there to the jackpot for five numbers plus both stars. The odds below are the standard EuroMillions figures under the current 5/50 + 2/12 matrix.

Jackpots: minimum, cap and how it grows

Every play cycle starts at a minimum jackpot of €17 million for both the Tuesday and Friday draws. If nobody matches all seven, the jackpot rolls over and climbs. Roughly half of the stake money from each draw across all participating lotteries goes into that draw's prize fund, with a slice held back in a reserve fund used to top the next cycle's jackpot back up to the €17 million floor.

It can't rise forever. The current ceiling is €250 million. Once the jackpot hits the cap it can stay there for a limited number of draws, and if it still isn't won, the money rolls down to the next tier that has a winner. The cap was reached more than once in 2025, which is part of what prompted the changes coming in 2026.

The 2026 overhaul

EuroMillions is getting its biggest change in years, with a proposed implementation date of 30 September 2026. The plans were published first by the French gaming authority (ANJ) and are expected to apply across all nine participating countries, with national lotteries adding their own local promotions on top.

• New game matrix. The current 5/50 + 2/12 format is being changed to "encourage long cycles," which in plain terms means the jackpot gets harder to win. The exact new matrix hasn't been confirmed, but it likely adds a number or a star to one of the pools (something like 5/51 or 2/13).
• Higher ticket price. The price per line rises from €2.50 to €3 in France, and other countries are expected to adjust proportionally (around £3 in the UK, for example).
• Extra prize tier. A new category is being added to increase how often players win, so smaller prizes should land more frequently even as the jackpot gets rarer.
• Higher jackpot cap. The ceiling rises above the current €250 million, opening the door to new record prizes. 
• Add-on game change (France). The French Etoile+ add-on is being replaced by a new €1 "1st Chance" add-on with a revised prize model. This is a national feature, so it won't directly affect Dutch players buying in Belgium.

Big jackpots and recent winners

The spring of 2026 ran hot. The jackpot climbed to around €209 million in early March, close to the cap. A €129 million prize was drawn on 29 May, a roughly €141 million pot drew attention on 2 June, and by 5 June the jackpot sat near €159 million with no top winner, so it kept growing. 

For context on what the ceiling can produce: in August 2025 a syndicate of five friends from the Île-de-France region took the full €250 million, a record for the game. Earlier maximum wins went to a player in Tahiti (€220 million in 2021) and a retiree in southern France (€200 million in 2020). The pattern in the coverage is always the same, enormous sums against odds of roughly 1 in 140 million, which is exactly why a sober view of those odds matters more than the headline number.

Claiming a prize and avoiding scams

How you collect depends on the amount, and the thresholds below are the French figures (the rules differ by country, so check the rules where your ticket was bought). Small prizes can be claimed back at a point of sale. In France, you can collect up to €30,000 in-store. Amounts between €30,000 and €500,000 go through dedicated payment centres, and anything above that comes with personal handling via a special service line. 

One warning worth repeating: the official lottery never asks you to pay a fee to release a prize. The French operator FDJ has flagged scammers who contact people claiming a win and then request money up front. If anyone does that, it's fraud. Keep your ticket somewhere safe, since it's the only proof you hold a winning entry.

Frequently asked questions

Play responsibly. A lottery is a game of chance with very long odds, not a financial plan. Only spend what you can afford to lose and set a limit before you play. If gambling stops being fun, consider CRUKS self-exclusion, and find support through Loket Kansspel. 18+.