Experts reveal what life would be like if you won the Euromillions £208,000,000 jackpot

One lucky person in Ireland has just won the £208,000,000 EuroMillions jackpot.

While the person’s identity is currently unknown, the Irish National Lottery confirmed the massive win, which is the equivalent to €250,000,000.

Cian Murphy, Ireland’s National Lottery chief executive, has urged punters to check their tickets and warned the winner to ‘keep it safe’.

It means they have become instantly richer than megastars including Adele and Dua Lipa.

The jackpot had been sat at £208million for two weeks after it reached its maximum amount earlier this month.

You might be wondering how on earth this person managed to win the money and what you can do to increase your chances of winning the biggest jackpot.

So, can anything be done to increase your chances of matching the six numbers and two lucky stars to win?

Location, location, location

The Midlands is the luckiest region in the UK, as more than 1,000 people have become millionaires there since the National Lottery was launched in 1994.

In comparison, only 195 people have ever won more than £1million in Northern Ireland, with 408 people in Wales becoming millionaires in the same time frame.

When it comes to EuroMillions, people from other European countries also take part in the draw, but you’ll be pleased to know the UK is one of the luckiest countries.

Some 46 out of 172 jackpot winners since September 2016 have been in the UK, analyst lottery.co.uk said – about 26%.

But hold your horses if you’re considering packing your bags and moving to the Midlands.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: ‘Certain areas have more National Lottery millionaires, but there are more people in London than the North East, for example, so after 30 years of millionaire-making, you’d expect it.

‘Remember, only around 5% of big winners share their news, so your perception of where the winners are may be based on just the winners spraying champagne. There are big winners in every corner of the country.’

Shop or online

Some players reckon buying a ticket in a shop rather than taking part online increases your chances, but a Lottery spokesperson has debunked this theory.

They told Metro: ‘It’s up to you – buy your ticket in your local corner shop, or on the app, sitting in the bath, how you buy your ticket has no impact on your chances of winning.

‘The key point is to have a ticket, without one your chance is zero.’

Lucky or overdue numbers

The number of times a number has been drawn also doesn’t play a role in boosting your chances.

Lottery.co.uk reckons the least drawn EuroMillions numbers are 22 and 40, and the numbers 26, 11 and 16 are the most overdue to feature in a draw soon.

Similarly, some superstitious players use a fixed set of numbers every time, maybe choosing lucky numbers, memorable dates, or the birthdays of loved ones.

But the National Lottery spokesperson said neither of these improves your chances, saying: ‘Any set of numbers can be drawn, so sticking with one set doesn’t make a statistical difference.

‘However, we are all drawn to our own lucky numbers, and plenty of winners will say it is these that have helped them bank a big prize.

‘Statistically, there is no reason why the same set of numbers couldn’t come up in every single draw.’

This did actually happen once – 4, 15, 23, 24, 35 and 42 were drawn in two consecutive rounds of the Bulgarian lottery back in 2009.

Officials ruled it a coincidence.

Your lucky day?

The Lottery spokesperson also ruled out always playing on a certain day and only playing when there is a lower jackpot as potential ways to boost your luck.

This is because the odds of all of your numbers matching those drawn remain the same and will not change, no matter how big the jackpot, what day it is, or how many other people have bought tickets.

‘The key is to have a ticket. No ticket, no chance – a ticket, whenever you buy it, means you are in with a chance of winning big,’ the spokesperson said.

However, when it comes to only playing when there is a lower jackpot, the spokesperson added: ‘In general, fewer people tend to play when jackpots are lower, which means if you were to win the jackpot there is a slightly smaller chance that you would end up sharing it with another player who has the same set of numbers.’

In it to win it

So overall, it seems like there isn’t a tried and tested way to improve your odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot.

The only way to make sure you’re in with a chance at all is to buy a ticket and cross your fingers.

Previous British winners include those who scooped £83,000,000 in January and the £65,000,000 jackpot in February.

Other recent wins include the Easter Lotto draw, in which three people won £1million, and in April a single ticket holder claimed a £5.2million jackpot – not quite as big as the sum won this week.

And if you’ve ever wanted to know what actually happens when you win the EuroMillions lottery, Metro has the answers.

This article was originally published on June 7, 2025

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