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Lotteries have been around for centuries, even used by Augustus Caesar to fund repairs for Rome. Lotteries are still one of the ways governments raise money to fund programs and fill in the holes left by financial short falls. Some lotteries are run by private companies, but are always highly regulated by government. In the United Kingdom and Europe, the government gets 12% of total sales as a Lottery Duty. Such is the case with the Euro Millions lottery.

While most of the proceeds (50%) go to prizes, the rest is divided between the administering companies, operating costs, commissions paid to retailers, some to the respective governments in the form of duties, and then the next largest percentage goes to the "Good Causes." Good Causes is dispersed in the form of grants for education, health, and the environment; sports; arts; and heritage. For a complete breakdown and links, check the Euro Millions Results web site.

In addition to the percentage of proceeds given to Good Causes, any unclaimed prizes go into the fund as well. Winners have 180 days to claim their prizes, after that period, the unclaimed prizes go into the fund. Quite a few prizes go unclaimed, usually because the buyer never checked the numbers, inadvertently threw the ticket away, or possible lost the ticket. Euro Millions Results lists all the past winning numbers, in case you find a ticket lying around.

One way to avoid losing possible winnings is to buy lottery tickets online, at sites like Euro Millions Results. The ticket and numbers are recorded electronically and assigned to the buyer, so there is no chance of the ticket being lost, forgotten, thrown away, or stolen. Buying tickets on-line is easy. All you need is a debit card (they don't accept credit cards), and you can even buy tickets weeks in advance.