If you are wondering what the odds of are winning the French Lotto main prize, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to explore the chances for the jackpot and prizes in lower tiers, too, and how these compare to other global lotteries.
But first, here’s a quick look at the frequency of French Lottery jackpot wins in the past 12 months. As this handy graph shows, the main prize doesn’t roll over as frequently as some other draws around the world. For the most part, rollovers hardly get to double figures and reasonably often only need a couple before the jackpot is won again. Every now and then, though, as witnessed in the latter half of 2021, the wait is upward of 10 rollovers.
Image source: Lotto.co.za
France’s lottery is sometimes referred to as the French Powerball and is really competitive among its fellow European draws and others around the world.
The chances of winning the jackpot are one in approximately 19 million. That’s better than the Brazil Quina Lotto at one in 24 million and Spanish Lotto at one in 32 million, but not as good as the German Lotto’s one in 16 million and Polish Lotto’s one in 14 million.
In terms of winning any prize, for guessing even one number correctly, there’s no beating the French Lotto. The odds here are a mere one in six. Only the UK Lotto’s one in 9.3, Spanish Lotto’s one in 10 and Austrian Lotto’s one in 12 come close.
For somewhere in between the odds of winning the jackpot and the lowest possible prize, the French Lotto also offers competitive chances. Whether you happen to get five number right or just the bonus number, there is generally something on offer for all winners – big and small.
- Five numbers and bonus number – one in 19 million
- Five numbers – one in 2 million
- Four numbers and bonus number – one in 90,000
- Four numbers – one in 10,000
- Three numbers and bonus number – one in 2,000
- Three numbers – one in 300
- Two numbers and bonus number – one in 150
- Two numbers – one in 16
- Zero numbers and bonus number – one in six
What makes the French Lotto even more appealing is that it happens three times a week. Most other lotto draws around the world only happen twice in a seven-day period. The French lottery, though, occurs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Those are some great opportunities to enter at the start of the week, in the middle and/or toward the end.
As for the numbers you want to select, well, those are up to you. Just remember that you need to get all five numbers and the bonus number correct to land the jackpot. There are many different approaches to picking numbers, if not using the auto-generated selection. Manual approaches include using random numbers or those associated with milestones in one’s life. There are also numerical directions from dreams and horoscopes to take. Whether these are used and how frequently, if at all, is entirely up to the individuals.