Jackpots grow bigger as new EuroMillions draw doubles chance of a win

We've produced the biggest ever EuroMillions winner, and now Irish players will double their chances of striking lucky with a second weekly draw.

Changes have been announced to the EuroMillions lottery -- to make even larger jackpots and create more chances to win.

The forthcoming changes see the introduction of a second draw day on Tuesdays, as well as expanding the number of Lucky Stars, which should result in more rollovers and bigger jackpots.

The game's member countries -- Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK -- are also introducing a 13th prize tier, where players will win around f3 for matching just two main numbers.

The overall odds of winning a prize on the game will shorten from 1 in 24 to 1 in 13 -- with the total number of prizes every week in Europe expected to more than double from 1.9m a week to 4.6m.

Tickets for the new-look game are due to go on sale on Saturday May 7, with the first Tuesday draw taking place on May 10.

To celebrate the launch, the first Tuesday draw will have a special mega-jackpot of an estimated €100m.

Captured

Limerick woman Dolores McNamara remains the single biggest winner, scooping €125m in 2005.

"Since we launched EuroMillions in 2004, it's grown to be the world's biggest multi-national lottery game by player population," a spokeswoman said.

"It has really captured the public's imagination.

"These changes will make the game even more exciting for our players."

hnews@herald.ie