PARTYCASINO REVEALS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST LOTTERY WINS
Online gaming site, PartyCasino, has revealed the biggest lottery wins from around the world, ahead of International Lottery Day, which falls on Friday, August 27.
The biggest lottery jackpot win in history came on January 13, 2016, when three couples in the USA shared a whopping total prize pot of $1.586 billion in America’s Powerball game.
Meanwhile, the largest ever single-ticket jackpot winner was also in the States, when an unnamed South Carolina resident took home $1.537 billion courtesy of the Mega Millions lottery in 2018.
Spain’s Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad (Spanish Christmas Lottery) is generally considered to be the world’s biggest lottery game, with the most sizeable prize pot. Held every year on December 22, millions of Spaniards take part, often buying tickets for family as Christmas presents.
Last year, the total amount of money on offer was €2.4 billion, with a top prize of €4 million but, because the rules of the draw are so complex and people can buy multiple tickets with the same numbers, it is almost impossible to gauge how many players have won a share of the prize pot.
As gamers and lottery players celebrate the thrill of placing their bet, picking their numbers and sticking or twisting, PartyCasino, which will launch its own lotto product later this year, brings you the biggest lottery wins in various countries.
The UK’s biggest ever lottery winner, who remained anonymous, secured an impressive £170.2 million on EuroMillions in October 2019; that win toppled North Ayrshire’s Colin and Chris Weir, whose £161m jackpot had been the UK’s biggest since 2011
Meanwhile, the biggest overall jackpot win in the UK’s National Lottery was a cool £66.1 million, shared by two winners
The biggest win in New Zealand’s Powerball draw came in November 2016; purchased in Dairy Flat Food Mart in Auckland, the lucky buyer took home a very pleasant NZ$44,066,667
A Sydney nurse scooped Australia’s biggest ever lotto jackpot in January 2019, a bonza AUD107,000,000; despite the huge win, the 40-year old mum and her husband have stayed at their jobs and haven’t really splurged much of their new-found fortune, save for buying a family home and making several charitable donations
The pan-European Eurojackpot lottery has a maximum jackpot of €90 million, which has paid out 14 times, although no single winner has ever scooped the lot; the most recent jackpot win was shared by two players in Finland and Poland earlier this month (August 13)
In Italy’s SuperEnalotto, the biggest ever winner took home €209 million in August 2019
The biggest single-ticket win in Germany’s Lotto 6 aus 49 scooped €42.6 million; the game’s largest ever jackpot, shared between three tickets was €45.4 million in 2007
In June 2008, a group of 16 colleagues at a quarry and concrete plant in County Carlow won the Irish Lotto’s biggest ever jackpot of €19 million
Russia’s largest ever jackpot of €4.32 million was won by a single 1800-rouble ticket in February 2016
€24 million was the biggest ever single-ticket jackpot win in France’s SuperLotto, won in June 2011; two tickets shared the game’s largest ever jackpot of €30 million in May 2006
At the other end of the scale from these life-changing lotto wins, the largest ever jackpot to go unclaimed also resides in the States. A $369.9 million prize was won by a ticket bought in Bonita Springs, Florida in January last year. If the money is not claimed in the allotted time (between 180 days and a year in the US), the prize will expire and the cash will go to the state to use as it sees fit.
The UK’s biggest unclaimed win was from June 2012, when a Euromillions prize worth £63.8 million was never picked up by its unfortunate owner. The ticket was bought in the Stevenage or Hitchin areas of Herfordshire but, after the allowed time period to claim expired, the money was distributed among charitable causes.
While lottery winners from around the globe will have seen their lives change overnight, becoming an instant millionaire isn’t always the dream come true that most people imagine. To find out more about how the lotto dream went sour for some winners, visit https://casino.partycasino.com/en/blog/lottery-losers/
