Playing only numbers 1 through 31 doesn't change your odds of winning, since every combination is equally likely. It does make a shared jackpot more likely, because birthday players crowd the low end of the 49-number grid and leave 32 through 49 comparatively unloved.
The game at a glance
5 of 49 + Chance
Mon · Wed · Sat
France
1 in 19,068,840
The same for every possible combination, including this one.
1 of 10
Chance: you pick it yourself, drawn from a separate pool.
18+
Must be 18+ to play Loto.
France Loto, in brief
Loto is France's national lottery, run by FDJ (La Française des Jeux). A player picks five numbers from 1 to 49 plus one numéro Chance from 1 to 10, chosen by the player rather than assigned. Matching all six wins the jackpot, and the odds of doing that are 1 in 19,068,840, short enough by big-lottery standards that the top prize gets hit fairly regularly.
Draws take place three evenings a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. The jackpot starts at a guaranteed €2 million and grows by at least €1 million every time a draw passes without a winner, so a run of rollovers can push it into the tens of millions before someone takes it down.
Every ticket also enters a separate raffle. At each draw FDJ pulls ten winning codes from among the grids played, and each code pays a guaranteed €20,000. Your numbers don't matter for this part; the code printed on the ticket either comes up or it doesn't.
Prize tiers
5 numbers + ChanceJackpot
The jackpot, starting at €2 million and split evenly among all winning grids
5 numbers, no Chance
A six-figure prize, typically around €100,000
4 numbers + Chance
Roughly a thousand euros
4 numbers, no Chance
A few hundred euros
3 numbers + Chance
A modest cash prize, several times the ticket price
3 numbers, no Chance
A small fixed prize
2 numbers + Chance
A small fixed prize
2 numbers, no Chance
A small fixed prize, a little above the ticket price
Chance number only
Your stake back, the cost of the grid refunded
Where France Loto came from
A game older than most of its players
Loto held its first draw in May 1976, staged at a Paris theatre and broadcast to the nation. It was an immediate hit; within a year the French were playing millions of grids a week. The company created to run it eventually became La Française des Jeux, which still operates the game today alongside France's EuroMillions sales.
The 2008 overhaul
For its first three decades Loto was a classic 6-from-49 game with a complementary number. In October 2008 FDJ scrapped that matrix and relaunched the game as 5 from 49 plus a numéro Chance from 10, the format still in use. The same reform added a Monday draw to the historical Wednesday and Saturday slots, giving Loto its three-a-week cadence.
The 2019 refresh
A rules update in November 2019 raised the rollover step to at least €1 million per draw, introduced an optional second-draw entry for the five main numbers, and added the raffle of ten €20,000 codes attached to every draw.
Picking numbers, honestly
No number is ever due. Each draw is independent of every draw before it, so a number absent for six months carries exactly the same odds as one that came up on Saturday. FDJ publishes frequency statistics, but they describe the past; they predict nothing.
The numéro Chance comes from its own pool of 1 to 10, separate from the main grid. It isn't a sixth ball from the same machine, which is why a 7 among your main numbers and a Chance 7 can both appear in a single draw.
France Loto — frequently asked
A second number, from 1 to 10, that you pick alongside your five main numbers. You need it to win the jackpot, and matching it on its own refunds the cost of your grid.
Three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evenings. The Monday draw was added with the October 2008 relaunch.
Every grid played gets a printed code, and at each draw FDJ selects ten codes that win €20,000 apiece. It runs alongside the main draw, so a ticket can lose on the numbers and still win the raffle.
It rolls over and grows by at least €1 million for the next draw. From its €2 million floor, a long unclaimed streak can carry it well past €20 million.
No. From its launch in 1976 it was a 6-from-49 game with a complementary number. The current 5 from 49 plus 1 from 10 matrix arrived in October 2008.
No. The balls are drawn at random either way, so a Flash grid picked by the terminal has exactly the same odds as numbers you chose yourself.