Euromillions jackpot of 100m Euros

[mikeymike99]

The Euromillions jackpot on October 1 will be 100m. Yet how is this possible? If the jackpot goes on the previous Friday how can they guarantee 100m for the next draw?

[squarebear]

They hold "superdraws" every now and then. October 1st is the next one.

[R1Geezer]

They don't guarentee anything it's just an estimate however extrapolation paramters available mean it won't be far out.

[ABerrant]

The Superdraw total is guaranteed.

Weekly draws only ever pay out about 94% of the weekly takings. 6% of all takings are placed in the EuroMillions Reserve Fund. Occasionally the accumulated mass of extra funds is used for a Superdraw.

[R1Geezer]

In reallity it wont be an issue but they cannot "absolutely guarantee" the jackpot because it could be eaten by smalller prizes. Like our own lotto could in theory be eaten by tenners.

[sandyRoe]

I'm not greedy. €10 million would do me nicely.

[ABerrant]

There is never any guarantee that someone will win the top prize but they can guarantee the prize fund, which is the essence of the original question, because they have the reserves to do so.

EuroMillions smaller prizes do not affect higher category wins because each tier is limited to a set percentage of the total pot.
e.g.
Match 5 and 2 Lucky Stars (Highest prize) = 32% of the total prize fund
Match 4 and 1 Lucky Star (Middle-ish prize) = 1% of the total prize fund
Match 2 and 1 Lucky Star (Lowest prize) = 24% of the total prize fund

There is no "tenner" prize in EuroMillions. Last week's draw produced a lowest prize of £5.90. If there had been twice as many winners they would each have received £2.90 (prizes are rounded down to nearest 10p).

Likewise there is no guaranteed "tenner" prize in Lotto. The stated £10 is the maximum prize allowed; if the the prize fund is insufficient to give all Match 3 winners £10 the available fund will be split equally between all prize winners.

[R1Geezer]

yes so theoretically you could win the jackpot and get a tenner!

[R1Geezer]

.....or even less!

[sandyRoe]

Just before the first lottery they were forecasting what the prizes might be. They said 4 numbers might win about £100. I got 4 but the prize was only £67.

[ABerrant]

Not relevant in respect of EuroMillions Superdraw which, again, is the subject of the question. The Jackpot is 32% of the total prize fund.

[mikeymike99]

Thanks ABerrant - the 6% a week hoarding of cash for a big splurge makes the 100m comprehensible.