France lottery: EuroMillions, Loto and Keno

Who runs the France lottery

FDJ holds the exclusive concession for draw games in France. The company is listed, but the right to run Loto, EuroMillions in France and Keno sits with that concession. The ANJ supervises the operator, the draws, the advertising rules and the player-protection measures. Draws are observed by a bailiff. Operator background is on the FDJ page. The legal frame is on law and tax.

Part of FDJ’s revenue goes to good causes. The breakdown is on which charities FDJ supports. That page is about the public share of revenue, not about how a prize is calculated.

Private companies cannot open a competing national draw game in France. Online ticket sellers that offer French entries to people outside France are intermediaries. They are not FDJ. If you use one, check the licence in the country where that company is based, and keep the proof of purchase they issue.

How EuroMillions works in France

EuroMillions is a shared game. Nine countries sell tickets into the same prize pool. France is one of them. You pick 5 numbers from 1 to 50 and 2 Lucky Stars from 1 to 12. Matching all seven wins the jackpot. The odds of that are 1 in 139,838,160.

The jackpot starts at a minimum of €17 million. If nobody wins it, the amount rolls to the next draw. It is capped at €250 million. After the cap, extra prize money is moved into the lower tiers or into a special draw, depending on the rules in force at the time. A shared jackpot is split equally between the winning tickets.

Draws are on Tuesday and Friday. The draw itself takes place in Paris. Results are published by FDJ and by the other national operators. The latest numbers and the next advertised jackpot are in the card above. The full French rules, including My Million, are on the EuroMillions and My Million page.

My Million

My Million is not part of the EuroMillions matrix. It is a raffle that FDJ adds to every EuroMillions entry sold in France. Each ticket gets one unique code. After the main draw, one code wins €1 million. There is one My Million winner per draw, so two a week. Tickets bought in the UK, Spain, Ireland or any other EuroMillions country do not get this code. If you play EuroMillions from outside France through an intermediary, ask whether the entry includes My Million. Many do not.

The raffle does not change the EuroMillions odds. It is an extra chance on top of the main game, limited to French-issued entries.

How French Loto works

Loto is the national game. You pick 5 numbers from 1 to 49 and 1 Chance number from 1 to 10. Matching the 5 main numbers plus the Chance number wins the jackpot. Matching 5 without the Chance number pays the second tier. Lower tiers pay for 4, 3 and 2 main numbers, with and without the Chance number.

The jackpot starts at €2 million. If it is not won, it rolls. There is no hard cap in the same way as EuroMillions. Very large Loto jackpots are less common than EuroMillions jackpots, because the game is only sold in France and the matrix is smaller. The odds of the jackpot are 1 in 19,068,840.

Draws are Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 20:30, in Boulogne-Billancourt, under the eye of a bailiff. Each draw also includes a set of raffle codes. Ten of those codes pay €20,000. The codes are printed on the ticket. You do not pick them.

There is also a second draw on some Loto formats, with its own smaller prize. Check the ticket type you bought. The current rules and the prize tiers are on the French Loto page.

How Keno works

Keno is different from Loto and EuroMillions. You choose how many numbers to play, from 2 up to 10, out of 70. Twenty numbers are drawn. Your prize depends on how many of your numbers match, and on the stake you chose. The prizes are fixed in advance. There is no shared jackpot that grows from week to week.

Keno Gagnant à Vie is a separate option. Instead of a one-off cash prize, a top win pays a set amount for life, under the conditions FDJ publishes for that product. The exact monthly amount and the length of the payments are in the current rules. Those change less often than jackpots, but they are not fixed forever. Read the Keno page before you treat any figure as current.

Keno draws several times a day. Because the prizes are fixed, a result is easier to check than a pari-mutuel game. Match the numbers, look up the tier for the count you played, and the prize is the amount in the table for that stake.

Odds at a glance

These are the headline odds for a single entry at the standard stake. They do not include the raffle codes.

Lower tiers are much more common. A 2-number EuroMillions prize, or a 2-number Loto prize, is the usual small win. The jackpot is the rare outcome. Treat any hot-number claim as entertainment. Each draw is independent.

How to play

In France you buy a ticket at an FDJ retailer or on the official FDJ site if you are eligible to open an account. Pick your numbers, or take a quick pick. Pay the stake. Keep the ticket, or the digital proof, until the draw has been published and any claim window has closed.

A standard EuroMillions line and a standard Loto line each have their own stake. Multi-draws and subscriptions are available on the official site. They do not improve the odds of any single line. They only mean you are entered in more draws.

Step-by-step notes for each game are on how to play French lotteries. If you are new to the games, read that page before the individual rule pages. It covers the difference between a line, a draw and a raffle code.

Playing from outside France

If you live outside France, you cannot open an FDJ account. FDJ’s online service is for eligible players in France. Some companies licensed in other countries sell entries into French draws to non-residents. They buy the ticket, or the entry, and pass the result back to you. You are then a customer of that company, not of FDJ.

Before you use one, check three things. The company should be licensed where it operates. You should receive a scannable copy of the entry, or an equivalent proof, before the draw. And you should know who pays you if you win, and in which currency. A French My Million code is not automatically included when the entry is placed from abroad.

How to check a result and claim

Compare the numbers on your ticket with the official result. For EuroMillions, check the 5 main numbers and the 2 Lucky Stars. For Loto, check the 5 main numbers and the Chance number, then the raffle codes if your ticket has them. For Keno, count the matches against the 20 drawn numbers.

Small prizes can usually be paid at an FDJ retailer. Larger prizes must be claimed through FDJ, often with ID and the original ticket. The deadline is printed on the ticket and in the rules. Miss it and the prize is forfeited. A photo of a ticket is not a substitute for the ticket itself if you bought it in a shop.

A prize is not confirmed until FDJ, or the intermediary that sold you the entry, validates it. Numbers on this site are published for information. If a figure here and the official FDJ result ever disagree, the official result is the one that counts.

Tax on winnings

FDJ does not withhold French income tax on lottery prizes. A prize paid in France is not added to French income tax in the way a salary is. That rule is about French tax. It does not decide what happens in another country.

If you live outside France, your home country may tax foreign gambling winnings, or it may not. The United Kingdom, for example, does not tax lottery prizes for UK residents. Other countries do. The country where you are tax resident is the one that matters, not the country that ran the draw.

The detail for non-residents is on tax on French lottery winnings for non-residents. The broader frame is on law and tax. This is general information, not personal tax advice. For a large prize, ask a tax adviser in the country where you live.

Which game to choose

Choose on the prize shape you want, not on a promise of better odds. The odds of any jackpot are long.

A longer comparison, including stake and draw days, is on French lotteries compared.

Responsible play

A lottery is a paid form of entertainment with a negative expected return. The price of a ticket is the cost of the game. Set a limit before you buy, and do not chase a loss with a larger stake the next day. FDJ and the ANJ both publish tools for deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion on the official site.

You must be 18 or over to play. Do not buy a ticket for someone under 18. If gambling is causing problems, stop and use the help contacts published by FDJ and by the health services in your country. More on the rules around play is on law and tax and in the FAQ.