International lotteries: the big games abroad, and the catch
The biggest lotteries outside North America are run under government licence, and each one sells to the people in its own country. That's the catch for anyone reading about a nine-figure EuroMillions jackpot from somewhere else: the lottery that runs it says it won't pay you.
Every lottery has a home
A lottery abroad works the way an American one does. A government licenses it, or runs it, and it sells to players inside its borders under its own rules. The draw can be shared across countries. The ticket can't.
I'll take the games one at a time and quote each lottery's own site, because the prices are in pounds and euros and the rules are written for the people who live there. All of it can change, and the lottery's site is where the current version lives.
EuroMillions
EuroMillions is one draw shared by several European lotteries. The UK version's game procedures explain it plainly: "EuroMillions is a separate game in each participating country, but prizes are pooled and shared between all winning players using the results of a shared EuroMillions Draw." The game is coordinated by SLE, a cooperative incorporated in Belgium for that purpose, according to the same document.
You pick five numbers from 1 to 50 and two Lucky Stars from 1 to 12, and the draws are on Tuesday and Friday. The jackpot odds are 1 in 139,838,160, which is plain counting: 2,118,760 ways to choose five from 50, times 66 ways to choose two from 12. That makes it roughly twice as likely to hit as the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot, which are both near 1 in 290 million.
Each country sells it at its own price. In the UK a play costs £2.50, and the procedures say why it's that odd sum: EuroMillions itself costs £1.74 and the UK Millionaire Maker raffle, which comes with every UK entry, costs 76 pence. In Ireland, the National Lottery lists EuroMillions "from €2.50 per line," for players 18 and over. In France, FDJ sells it as EuroMillions My Million at €2.50.
The UK National Lottery
The UK's National Lottery is run by a private company under a licence from the state. The Gambling Commission gave Allwyn Entertainment Limited "a 10 year licence to run the National Lottery," running from February 2024 until January 2034, and the Commission regulates it. Ireland's lottery is set up the same way: its games are promoted by Premier Lotteries Ireland under a licence from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, its site says.
Who can play is set out on the UK lottery's responsible play page: "You must be 18 or over to play. You must be physically located in the UK or Isle of Man."
Since July 2026 the UK lottery also sells Powerball, and the details are worth knowing if you play the American game. According to Powerball's FAQ, a UK play costs £4, the jackpot is the only prize shared with the United States, and the smaller prizes are run separately by the UK lottery. A UK jackpot is advertised after tax and paid over 30 years, with no cash option. The jackpot odds are the same 1 in 292,201,338 as in the American game, and the UK lottery's Powerball procedures print the same figure.
| Game, where sold | Run by | Price | Jackpot odds | Who can play, per the lottery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EuroMillions, UK | Allwyn, under Gambling Commission licence | £2.50 | 1 in 139,838,160 | 18 or over, physically in the UK or Isle of Man |
| EuroMillions, Ireland | Premier Lotteries Ireland, under ministerial licence | from €2.50 | 1 in 139,838,160 | 18 and over |
| Powerball, UK | Allwyn, under Gambling Commission licence | £4 | 1 in 292,201,338 | 18 or over, physically in the UK or Isle of Man |
The catch
There are websites that offer to sell you a EuroMillions line from anywhere, or an American ticket from Europe. Whatever they promise, read what the lotteries themselves say about buying that way.
The UK lottery's EuroMillions procedures say: "Allwyn is not liable in any circumstances, and will not pay a prize, to a player who bought an entry into EuroMillions from outside the UK or Isle of Man." Its Powerball procedures say the same about Powerball entries. Mega Millions, on its scam warning page, says its tickets "are NOT sold outside the United States" and that the game "is NOT affiliated with and does NOT endorse any company claiming to sell our tickets around the world, online or otherwise." The buying lottery tickets online page has more of what the American games say about middlemen.
Then there's the law. I'm not a lawyer and won't pretend to tell you what applies where you live. But for American readers, the Federal Trade Commission's page on fake prize, sweepstakes and lottery scams says it in its own words: "First, it's illegal for U.S. citizens to play a foreign lottery, so don't trust someone who asks you to break the law." It adds that "if you buy a foreign lottery ticket, expect many more offers for fake lotteries," and that "Messages about a foreign lottery are almost certainly from a scammer."
So the question I'd ask of any site selling a foreign ticket is a bookie's question: who pays me if it wins? If the lottery says it won't, you're relying on the seller, and the seller is a company you found on the internet that sells a product the lottery disowns. I've watched players chase a bigger number into a worse book plenty of times. A bigger jackpot you can't collect isn't a bigger jackpot.
If you're travelling, it's simpler. Buy at a licensed retailer while you're there, under that country's rules, and keep the ticket. If you're at home and an email says you've won a lottery abroad that you never entered, the lottery scams page explains what it is. And if the chase for a bigger jackpot has you looking overseas, the responsible gambling page is a better next stop than any of those sites.