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European lotteries

Playing in European lotteries

Geographically speaking, Europe consists of 51 countries, 28 of which are part of the European Union. All of these countries organise their own lotteries. As such, the Germans really enjoy playing the Lotto 6 aus 49. The Spaniards face a difficult choice between BonoLoto, El Gordo and La Primitiva. And Italian gambling lovers? They take part in the popular SuperEnalotto 3 times per week. Aside from these national lotteries, there are also the draws of EuroMillions and Eurojackpot. These pan-European lotteries are organised by several countries combined. The result of this is that the price money can really start to add up.

Why would you take part in European lotteries?

The pull of European lotteries is rather irresistible. This is mainly because of the enormous cash prizes that can occasionally be won. Just think about El Gordo. Every year, just before Christmas, Spaniards will en masse join the hunt for lottery tickets for this hugely popular lottery. It is only logical, as you might just come across a jackpot of some 2.5 billion euros. Although if you do happen to win this jackpot, you have to share this amount with 169 other winners. As there are always 170 tickets sold with the same number combination, you instantly increase your chances of winning a couple of million euros.

For other European lotteries, such as EuroMillions and SuperEnalotto, the prizes are far from modest as well. The jackpot of SuperEnalotto has in the past already gone up to an amount of some 177.8 million euros. The maximum jackpot at EuroMillions stands at 190 million euros. The exact cash prizes that can be won are, amongst others, determined by the number of inhabitants of the country. As such, the jackpot for Dutch lotteries is oftentimes lower than the jackpot of the larger European lotteries. Plenty of reason to shop around and find out what other countries have to offer.

These are the most popular lotteries of Europe

There are quite a lot of interesting lotteries in Europe. The largest of these are EuroMillions and Eurojackpot. The EuroMillions lottery was founded in 2004, as the European answer to Powerball and Mega Millions. These American lotteries are renowned for their astronomically high jackpots. By organising a shared lottery that includes 9 countries, something similar was thought to be possible in Europe as well. And we dare say that they managed to do so, with a jackpot of 190 million euros.

It is actually not necessary to mobilise several countries to come up with a decent jackpot. There are plenty of national lotteries that boast a prize pool that most of us will be fantasising about. On top of that, the jackpot is not necessarily the main reason for choosing a certain lottery. Some lotteries have better odds, while other games will have an extra element added to it. Whichever lottery is best suited for you, is really a matter of personal preference. Yet there are a number of European lotteries that really stand out when it comes to popularity. For instance, there are a lot of European players that will anxiously anticipate the drawings of:

  • National Lottery of Belgium
  • La Primitiva (Spanishlottery)
  • Spanish BonoLoto
  • El Gordo (Spain)
  • German Lotto 6 aus 49
  • SuperEnalotto Italy
  • Thunderball UK
  • UK Lotto
  • French Loto
  • Hatoslottó Hungary
  • Austria Lotto
  • Polska Lottery
  • Swiss Lotto
  • Turkish Lotto
  • Viking Lotto Sweden

Using this list of lotteries, you will probably be able to make the right choice.

Increase your odds with lottery pools

Chances of your lottery ticket containing a winning combination of numbers can vary greatly between lotteries. For pan-European lotteries, your odds are significantly lower than for national lotteries. Are you aiming for the jackpot of Eurojackpot? You are up against odds of roughly 59 million to 1 of succeeding. Expressed in a percentage, this is 0,0000017%. For EuroMillions, chances of winning the jackpot are no less than 116 million to 1. Although the large prize pool obviously makes up for most of this.

After all, besides the jackpot, there are plenty of other prizes to be won in each lottery. And there are ways of increasing your odds of winning. One way of doing so is through group pools. With group pools, you will join a number of other players in purchasing a large number of lottery tickets for your favourite European lottery. You do not actually need to know those other players. Through theLotter.com, you can easily join an existing group. Since each person in the group is pooling money, it is possible to purchase a large amount of lottery tickets. You will play with a wide variety of number combinations, which will increase your odds of actually winning something. Of course, you will have to share any winnings with the other members of the group. Yet this might not bother you as much if you end up winning tens of millions of euros in the Italian SuperEnalotto.

European lotteries and the tax on games of chance

The tax on the games of chance is not the most exciting or fun part of lotteries. But if you win a large cash prize, this is unfortunately part of the deal.

Essentially, you pay the tax in the country in which the lottery is organised. This tax is automatically deducted from your prize, meaning that there is nothing else left for you to do.  If you already pay tax on games of chance abroad, you do not have to do this again in your own country. Although it might happen that your national tax authorities request some form of proof that you already paid your taxes. Therefore, it is important to carefully save all official forms and documents that you receive if you win a prize in a European lottery.

Taking part in European lotteries online

The internet has quite literally made the world a much smaller place. While you could previously only buy lottery tickets in the country in which the lottery was organised, you can now simply do so online. You can take part in lotteries throughout Europe via theLotter.com. This makes it possible to vary occasionally. As such, you might first try your luck in the German Lotto 6 aus 49, yet perhaps feel more lucky in the Thunderball UK next. With theLotter you are guaranteed an official lottery ticket, which is quite important. How it works is simple. Tickets are bought on your behalf in the country of the lottery itself and safely kept in a vault. Of course you will receive proof that your ticket has been bought and that you are taking part using your lucky numbers. Now there is only one thing left for you to do: wait and see whether the balls are in your favour.