Why Are There No Guaranteed Jackpot Lotteries?

That’s Like Saying Why Is This Jelly Candy Sweeter than This Jelly Candy?

Here’s one question that doesn’t seem to leave the mind of an avid lottery player, “why don’t guaranteed jackpot exist?” Well, there are reasons for that, and the most important being that not everyone was born with the Lady Luck on their side. When guaranteed jackpots don’t happen, lottery rollovers do and the main reason behind this is that there were, perhaps, no lotto players who managed to match all of the numbers required to win the jackpot. Because the lottery did not see any jackpot winner, the jackpot payout remains intact and the entire jackpot amount is then ‘rolled over’, or added to the upcoming jackpot amount.

Sometimes what happens is that when you see a very huge jackpot, it could be the result of many lottery rollovers resulting in a gigantic amount up for the grabs for that one lucky winner, who may or may not have to share it with others. Now you might think, are rollover allowed to rollover infinitively? Nope. They can’t keep rolling over forever! Usually there’s a cap on how big a rolled over jackpot can be, thanks to new rollover rules placed starting 7th November 2009, which state:

1. Jackpot Pool Cap, for the EuroMillions was first allowed to reach a maximum of €185,000,000, but then as of new rule posted on the 12th January 2012, the Jackpot cap is at €190,000,000. It is rumored that by 2015, the new Jackpot cap will be at €200,000,000.
2. If the rollover exceeds the cap the remaining amount will be rolled over to a lower prize level containing at least one winner.
3. As of 2012, if the rollover jackpot is left unclaimed for two draws, the prize money will be distributed among winners at the next level.

Are Rollover Better Than Guaranteed Jackpots?

In a way, yes. Lots of people play the lottery and you can see from past results that the jackpot rollover to a significant amount – a life-changing amount in millions and millions. This makes one point clear that rollovers have better value for money because although the chances of hitting a jackpot remain the same, the amount you get to win keeps increasing – giving you the opportunity to win an amount significantly larger than what you initially expected. Just imagine that you bought a lottery ticket that’s worth a jackpot of a million dollars, but later in the week, there was a rollover, giving you the opportunity to win an extra 10 – 15 million dollars, isn’t this worth it? This is one of the main reasons why lottery rollovers always attract a player’s attention. Or imagine another situation that your jackpot is worth $1 million and unfortunately you have to share it with another winner?! Both get less than half a million there, but if you have a rollover jackpot, chances are you’re taking more than a million each! This means that even if you become a philanthropist you can still have enough money to shop until you drop! So all in all, smile when there are no guarantee jackpots because you can win more than you initially asked for! Isn’t that cool?!