A wide smile of fortune. The biggest lottery winnings in the world
Most people dream of getting rich. They want to get a large fortune just like that, without spending much effort. And for some people, these dreams come true - they win big prizes in the lottery. There are few such people, but their winnings are often amazing. Now you can try your luck in international and foreign lotteries by purchasing a lotto ticket online. The largest the lottery can have a “crazy” prize fund, and the amounts won amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. We invite you to familiarize yourself with our rating top 5 "biggest lotteries in the world."
5th place - Transnational lottery "Eurojackpot" - Total prize fund - 90 million €, largest win - 90 million €
Eurojackpot is the most dynamically developing and young game in Europe. The lottery was founded in 2012, it instantly became transnational, where the main players were players from Europe.
Over a dozen EU countries participate in the Eurojackpot lottery, including
- Denmark,
- Finland,
- Estonia,
- Hungary,
- Germany,
- Italy,
- Iceland
- Lithuania,
- Latvia,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Slovenia,
- Norway,
- Netherlands,
- Croatia
- and the Czech Republic.
There are a total of twelve prize levels in the lottery.
The minimum jackpot is €10 million, and its maximum growth can reach up to €90 million.
Compared to other games, EuroJackpot is designed in such a way that the main prize finds its winner much more often. As a result, the lottery jackpot does not accumulate to the same level as EuroMillions, because it is won more often. The largest Eurojackpot jackpot was won on May 15, 2015, with the winner from the Czech Republic receiving €90 million. In September 2014, the winner from Finland managed to win €61,170,752.
4th place - Lottery in Italy "SuperEnaloto" - Total prize fund - 177.8 million €, largest win - 177.8 million €
SuperEnaloto is the main national lottery in Italy. The game has been around since December 1997. Draws are held on Saturdays, Thursdays and Tuesdays at 20:00, and the jackpots of this lottery are among the largest in the world. SuperEnalotto also holds the record for the longest period of growth in the prize pool, it lasted 8 months.
The SuperEnalotto prize pool can easily increase to infinity
during an unlimited number of draws, allowing it to accumulate huge sums and players to win millions of euros. The game is also very attractive for players, because winnings are not taxed, and winners have the right to claim their winnings in annual payments or in a lump sum.
At one of the Venice festivals, Madonna and George Clooney purchased SuperEnaloto tickets, the former even won 120 thousand €. And the largest lottery jackpot in October 2010 reached 177.8 million €, which is equal to 247 million dollars. It became the second largest jackpot in Europe.
3rd place - Transnational lottery "EuroMillions" - Total prize fund - 190 million €, largest win - 190 million €
The EuroMillions game was launched in 2004. She quickly gained popularity. Today it is biggest game in Europe. The large jackpot prize fund, which is growing due to transfers of the prize fund, as well as the simplicity of the game, have made it possible to expand the number of participating countries to nine from 3 in 2004. EuroMillions was originally held in Spain, the UK and France, and has now been joined by Austria, Ireland, Andorra, Belgium, Monaco, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Portugal.
Winning EuroMillions could buy you everything - a piece of diamond-studded jewelry.
The minimum lottery jackpot is €15 million, but quite often it increases to over €100 million. EuroMillions has 13 prize categories, which allows players to count on a higher probability of receiving a prize. The biggest prize won so far is the €190 million jackpot. It has been won twice: in 2014 in Portugal and in 2012 in the UK. Colin and Chris Weir won €185 million in the UK in 2011.
2nd place - Lottery in the USA "Powerball" - Total prize fund - $600 million, largest win - $600 million
The American game Powerball is the strongest and main competitor to Mega Millions. The Powerball game was founded in 1988 and today it is the most important player in this market. The initial Powerball jackpot is $40 million. It has one of the largest jackpots in the world.
This amount has reached more than $500 million several times.
The lottery has a “Power play” function for an additional fee, which allows you to increase your winnings several times if you win. Tickets can be purchased in 45 US states, while Powerball can be played by players from all over the world through a special service. Powerball drawing, as well as the presentation of prizes to lottery participants in nine prize categories, is carried out in Florida every Saturday and Wednesday at 23:00.
In May 2013, the Powerball game held a $600 million draw, which became the second-largest jackpot on record. Its sole owner was an 84-year-old retiree living in Florida.
1st place - US Lottery "Mega Millions" - Total prize fund - $1.5 billion, largest winnings - $656 million
Mega Millions is one of the largest lotteries in the United States, founded in 1996. Today, the number of departments and states in which tickets are distributed is 45, giving Mega Millions almost universal coverage in the United States. The initial jackpots for this lottery are $15 million.
They even reached one and a half billion dollars several times.
The final win in this game, thanks to the presence of an additional win multiplier called Megaplier, can be increased up to five times.
Mega Millions players are offered to win in nine different categories, with drawings taking place every week on Fridays and Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. This game has gone down in history forever, changing the idea of jackpots, because in March 2012 the amount of the main winnings reached $656 million. This jackpot became the largest in the history of lotteries!
Video: How winning the lottery can change your life
The lottery made millionaires not only of its participants, but also of lottery ticket sellers. Photo from website: shutterstock.com
The largest jackpot ever played in a lottery was $1.5 billion! I organized such an attraction of generosity last year. The bird in the sky went to not one, but three lottery participants who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Namely in the state of California, in the town of Chino Hills. The lucky ones simply bought groceries in one of the supermarkets and purchased a ticket at the same time. By the way, according to the lottery organizers, the store owners also became the darlings of fate: they received a million US dollars as a bonus for the sale.
Let us remind you that the main winnings in Powerball go to the person whose ticket matches five numbers from the first block and one bonus number during the drawing - that same Powerball. This time, the numbers 8, 27, 34, 4, 19 brought millions to the winners. And the red extra ball, the Powerball, turned out to have the number 10.
Eric Bragg bought his ticket for $2, and he will now receive his winnings in installments over 29 years.
The odds of winning the MegaMillions jackpot are 1 in 176 million. Photo from website: shutterstock.com
Before this incident, the record jackpot was considered to be a prize of $640 million, which was drawn in April 2012 by the organizers. And again there were three winners; the Americans purchased their tickets in the states of Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. Before the start of the drawing, experts estimated the chances of winning the jackpot as 1 in 176 million.
And in 2013, the stars aligned in the right combination over the head of 84-year-old American Gloria McKenzie. An older lady lined up for a Powerball ticket at a supermarket where there was a rush ahead of the upcoming superdraw. There weren't enough tickets, and Ms. McKenzie might have missed out on her favorite TV show and made lottery history if the kind-hearted young man in front of her hadn't given her a seat. They even say that Mackenzie became a millionaire “for that guy.” Her winnings amounted to $590 million, but the American received only $390 million. The remainder went to taxes and commission, which the winner must pay if he decides to take all the money at once, rather than splitting the amount and waiting for transfers for almost 30 years.
In the case of Mackenzie, who was at an advanced age, the decision was quite understandable. After all, lottery winnings are not subject to the right of inheritance, which means that if she had relatives, they would not be able to claim even a cent of the jackpot won by Gloria Mackenzie.
How are things going in Russia? Lotteries are becoming a very popular hobby today, and Russians are increasingly participating in them with their entire families. This is confirmed by numerous reviews from the participants themselves, who became winners, and by the results of an independent study of the lottery market conducted by GFK analysts.
In August 2014, the name of a resident of Nizhny Novgorod was written into the history of Russian lotteries, who became the sole owner of a record super prize of 202,441,116 rubles. The participant made a detailed bet in the Gosloto “6 out of 45” lottery, which cost him only 700 rubles.
Agree, it’s nice to suddenly get rich at any age (especially if there were no prerequisites for this), and even more so at the age of 84! A pensioner from Missouri is incredibly lucky! No, he did not participate in a bank robbery (what kind of robberies can happen at his age), nor did he play cards or roulette. He just bought a lottery ticket. And, Mama Mia - he was lucky - his winnings amounted to 254 million dollars. The lucky man's name is James Wilson. To celebrate, the generous and kind-hearted American divided the prize between his sons, who were in dire need of money, since at that time they were unemployed.
No. 14. 2002 winnings - $314.9 million
Jack Whittaker from West Virginia gave himself a significant gift for Christmas. He became the owner big win- a cash prize of over $300 million. However, the money did not benefit the winner. Jack was robbed twice. But he himself turned out to be a criminal type: in his house the police found the body of a boy who died from a drug overdose. Jack's wife admitted that after winning the lottery, their life went awry, and it would be better if this grimace of fortune passed them by. Yes, you need to be careful with easy money. Maybe it was worth donating some of the money to charity?
No. 13. Winning 2005 - $340 million
One ordinary American named Steve West once decided to play the lottery "". And, lo and behold! fell on him from the sky impressive winnings- millions of dollars! The game consists of the participant having to guess several numbers. If everyone is correct, the person wins. The beauty of the story is that Steve chose the numbers in random order and hit the bull's eye!
No. 12. Winning 2000 - $363 million
The top prize on that famously warm May day rose to $363 million. At that time, this amount became the maximum jackpot in the entire history of the lottery business in the world. Two people won - citizens from the states of Michigan and Illinois. They decided to get their winnings in one go. Having paid taxes, they received $90 million each. One of the winners had never really played the lottery at all. Once, while buying fast food, he asked the seller to take a large bill instead of the required two dollars. He didn’t have any change, so instead he had to buy as many as 98 lottery tickets! The guy’s rage knew no bounds... But this is how it all turned out!
No. 11. Biggest winnings of 2006 - $365 million
During the next draw, they gave away $365 million. There were several winners - all of them were meat processing plant workers who, for fun, decided to start their own little syndicate (pool). And on you - winnings! This is what a friendly team means!
No. 10. 2007 winnings - $390 million
In March 2007, the organizers of the famous lottery "" promised their clients a cool cash prize and they kept their word. There were more than enough people wanting to get their hands on several hundred million bucks. Packs of tickets were being bought all over the country. And on the night of March 7-8, the draw took place! From the many applicants, two winners emerged, who fairly shared the winnings with each other.
No. 9. 2014 winnings - $425 million
This California retiree named Raymond Buxton waited a month to get his hands on his rightfully won winnings. Why did you have to wait so long? Raymond is just a big prankster by nature. He waited until the first of April and deliberately showed up at the lottery headquarters on April Fool's Day, wearing a T-shirt on the theme of the Star Wars movie saga with the inscription: “May Jedi luck be with me.” Buxton’s delight knew no bounds, and he spoke about his victory laconically: “Incredible!”
No. 8. 2013 winnings - $488 million
Serious win that time there were three winners from different cities. One of the tickets was purchased in Ham Lake, Minnesota, the other two were purchased in New Jersey. In Minnesota, a man named Paul White won, in New Jersey - a whole group of 16 participants and a lone player, Mario Scarnici. Each ticket generated $86 million before taxes.
No. 7. 2012 winnings - $587 million
This great win was divided into two parts: one went to Matthew Goode from Arizona, and the second to a married couple - Mark and Cindy Hill from Missouri. Each share was worth $192 million after taxes.
No. 6. Biggest winnings of 2013 - $590 million
Unique fantastic win went to one person, and what’s remarkable is that it became a record single lottery jackpot on a global scale! The lucky winner was a Florida resident named Gloria McKenzie. Gloria's big jackpot exceeded half a billion greenbacks. This is real super, hyper luck!
No. 5. Biggest winnings of 2012 - $640 million
This prize was "captured" in a drawing by representatives of three cities in different states. Big win amounted to 640 million dollars - an amount that is difficult to imagine in reality. Each of the lucky ones was entitled to 213 million.
No. 4. 2017 winnings - $758 million
On August 23, 2017, one person won the jackpot in the PowerBall lottery! Massachusetts Medical Center nurse Mavis Wonchik managed to become the only winner of a dizzying prize - 758.7 million dollars!
No. 3. 2019 winnings - $768 million
And this PowerBall lottery draw took place quite recently - on March 27, 2019. In this regard, nothing is known about the winners yet.
No. 2. 2018 winnings - $1 billion 537 million
The second largest jackpot was won by the Mega Millions lottery and was equal to $1,537 million. The lucky resident of South Carolina wished to remain incognito. All we know is that the drawing took place at the end of October 2018 and no one came to claim the winnings for four months. And only at the end of February 2019, a representative of the winner (lawyer Jason Kurland) appeared at the organizers’ office and took the winnings.
No. 1. 2016 winnings - $1 billion 586 million
Three misters took the mind-blowing jackpot at once. The lucky players were residents from California, Florida and Tennessee. Everyone's enormous winnings amounted to 528 million dollars! People are lucky...
Many popular lotteries in our country, when compared with foreign analogues, have a number of disadvantages, the main one of which is a relatively small jackpot. This is because it takes time to accumulate a huge amount.
In addition, economic development and global market performance are directly dependent on the amount of lottery jackpots. Russians and Americans think completely differently when buying a lottery ticket. And if for a foreign player the lottery is a small investment, and winnings are a pleasant cash surprise, then for our citizens, purchasing a coveted ticket is a chance to change their life, change or quit their job after a big win.
European lottery EuroMillions
EuroMillions ticket price $7.1.
European lottery EuroJackPot
EuroJackpot ticket price is $5.65.
US lottery MegaMillions
The price of a ticket for the American lottery MegaMillions is $2.5.
SuperEnalotto
Lottery La Primitiva
Superlotto plus
New Jersey Pick-6
Canadian Lotto 6/49
Advantages of foreign lotteries
Foreign lotteries are extremely popular, and all because their draws are held openly, the results are not falsified, and no one can even think that the results can be bought.
However, this does not mean at all that domestic lotteries are a complete lie and deception of players. It’s just that in foreign games there is not the slightest reason to think that this could happen. Moreover, this will contradict all moral and ethical criteria. And if such an incident occurred even in a small town, then the media and the public would not ignore such an incident. Therefore, organizers and representatives are forced to monitor compliance with all rules and the fairness of the draw.
Lottery organizers regularly pay taxes and comply with all prescribed laws, and citizens trust fair lotteries and the state. Special attention is paid to the fact that foreign lotteries strictly keep the names of the winners secret, and this, of course, is an indisputable advantage.
Some refuse to advertise their victory because they do not want to attract envious glances. Sometimes lottery organizers even offer winners to take a short psychological course that will teach them how to properly respond to people’s reactions and accept the situation.
Another important advantage that distinguishes world lotteries is currency. This is not surprising, since well-known lotteries must be backed by a stable currency that leads the world market. And it doesn’t matter in what currency the winner wants to receive his prize: dollars, euros, yen, pounds. This directly proves that the jackpot is not afraid of defaults and inflation, and players will not lose their funds. When participating in foreign lotteries, you can always count on a reliable win with a stable currency.
And probably the most important advantage is the size of the jackpot. Multi-million dollar currency prizes are always on the lookout for their winners. There is not a single lottery, neither in Russia, nor in Ukraine, nor in neighboring countries, that had at least half the amount in the prize fund, as in American or European lotteries. And it is unlikely that this will ever happen. Thus, in order to win a huge fortune, you need to take part in foreign lotteries.
It is worth noting one important point, which is that to participate in lotteries held in Europe, America and other countries, the main criterion is age; it should not be less than 18 years old. Otherwise, anyone can take part in the exciting action, without breaking the law and getting a chance at a huge super prize that can change their whole life.
On November 5, a resident of the Voronezh region won 506 million rubles in the lottery, this is the largest win in the entire history of Russia, the Stoloto lottery operator company reported on Sunday.
On November 2, a resident of the American state of North Carolina, Kimberly Morris, won more than a million dollars on one day. The woman was offered to receive the entire amount in the form of payments of 50 thousand dollars over 20 years, or take 600 thousand immediately. Morris chose a lump sum payment and after deducting all taxes, she took home almost 420 thousand.
On August 24, a winning ticket for the American Powerball lottery with a jackpot of $758.7 million in Massachusetts, the exact location was not announced.
On April 11, a family from the French city of Dijon entered the EuroMillions lottery, receiving 83.4 million euros with a lottery ticket price of 2.5 euros. The lucky ones' chances of winning such a prize were 1 in 116 million.
On October 15, a resident of Baden-Württemberg Eurojackpot maximum prize of 90 million euros. The Eurojackpot lottery is popular among residents of 17 European countries. To win the jackpot, players need to match five numbers out of 50 and two additional numbers out of ten.
On August 12, a resident of Estonia won 1.155 million euros during the Eurojackpot international lottery draw. According to the state company Eesti Loto, this win is the largest in the history of lotteries in Estonia.
On July 29, a resident of Hesse, Germany won 84.8 million euros in the Eurojackpot lottery. The lucky winner managed to guess all the winning numbers
On May 8, the winning ticket in the Powerball lottery with a jackpot of $429.6 million in the US state of New Jersey. Odds of winning: 1 in 292.2 million.
March 5, brothers James and Bob Stoklas from the American state of Pennsylvania. However, the winnings were not distributed quite evenly: the lottery ticket brought James 291.4 million, and Bob won $7.
On February 27, a resident of Novosibirsk, a participant in “Gosloto “6 out of 45”, “Gosloto” worth 358 million 358 thousand 466 rubles. He took part in three draws. His lucky bet, which the winner made at one of the lottery kiosks in the city, cost 1800 rubles. The record came in the 1885th edition.
On 15 February, UK lottery operator Camelot confirmed that the UK had filed almost £25 million in Europe's largest lottery Euromillions.
On February 12, a group of friends from Dublin won the European EuroMillions lottery in the amount of 132 million euros with a resident of France. The winners received 66 million euros.
On September 19, a winning ticket for the major American lottery Powerball worth $399.4 million was played at a gas station in the US state of South Carolina.
On August 25, media reported that a resident of Switzerland contributed 93.6 million euros to the popular European lottery EuroMillions. This is the biggest win for Switzerland.
On August 8, the organizers of the American lottery Powerball announced that three tickets with lucky numbers were sold in the states of New Jersey and Minnesota, in the amount of $448 million.
On June 5, the organizers of the Powerball lottery in May. She became 84-year-old Gloria McKenzie from Florida. She bought a lottery ticket at a supermarket in Zephyrhills, Florida, where only 13 thousand people live. She had the option of choosing annual payments or a lump sum payment. By choosing the latter, Mackenzie received only $370.8 million instead of the $590.5 million that was her nominal winnings. Mackenzie became the owner of the largest win in US history by one person.
On June 1, in the 585th draw of Gosloto “6 out of 45”, the accumulated super prize, equal to 121 million 835 thousand 582 rubles, was shared by two participants - a resident of Perm Valery (60 million 917 thousand 821 rubles) and a resident of Volgograd Olga (61 million 518 thousand 163 ruble).
On May 28, a UK resident won more than 81 million pounds (almost 95 million euros) in the pan-European EuroMillions lottery. The anonymous winner immediately became 908th on the list of the richest Britons.
On April 26, media reported that a resident of the American state of New Jersey, 44-year-old Pedro Quezada, received a Powerball lottery ticket. After paying all the necessary taxes, Quezada was left with about $152 million.
On April 6, two residents of Belgium shared 26.5 million euros in the European lottery EuroMillions.
On November 29, the organizers of the American Powerball lottery reported that two US residents who bought winning tickets amounted to $580 million.
On November 14, a French resident won one of 169.8 million euros in the pan-European Euro Millions lottery.
On November 6, Australia's biggest jackpot was shared by four winners. The OZ lotto winnings totaled AUD 112 million.
On September 18, in the 477th draw of Gosloto “6 out of 45”, the accumulated super prize for detailed bets, equal to 152 million 723 thousand 884 rubles, was divided among four participants.
On August 11, a UK resident won the pan-European lottery Euromillions, which amounted to £148 million (€190 million).
