Dangerous jackpot: how big lottery winners become hostage to millions.

Jackpot and won $758.7 million - the largest prize ever awarded to a single lottery ticket. The largest winnings paid to lottery participants are in the RBC photo gallery.

Biggest jackpot in history

In January 2016, the American Powerball lottery had the largest jackpot in history, worth more than $1.5 billion. The owners of three tickets managed to guess the winning combination, each of whom decided to receive the prize immediately, and not over 30 years. For this reason, the payment amounted to $327.8 million each. The lottery caused a major stir in the country, with organizers expecting ticket revenue to reach $1.3 million per minute during the evening rush hour.

Biggest win on a single ticket to date

In July 2016, participants in another popular American lottery, Mega millions, were able to hit a jackpot worth $536 million. The winners, who bought a ticket in Indiana, chose not to reveal their identities so as not to endanger their children. They also preferred to receive their winnings in one payment - it amounted to about $378 million.

Biggest Powerball win to date

To date, the biggest Powerball win on a single ticket was in 2013. Then $590.5 million was won in the same lottery, and the winner of the lucky ticket was an 84-year-old American woman from Florida. The winner chose to receive her winnings in one payment, its size amounted to $370.8 million.

$487 million jackpot

Another big Powerball winner in July 2016 was a New Hampshire couple. The lottery jackpot was $487 million. The winners also decided to receive their winnings in one payment of $341.7 million. They immediately spent part of this amount on charity.

Real shock

Two months earlier, a Powerball jackpot of $429.6 million was won. The winners were a 70-year-old New Jersey woman and her seven daughters, one of whom called the incident “God’s intervention” and “a real shock.” According to her, the family decided to pay off the mortgage and student loans first. They also decided not to extend the payments over 30 years, so they received $284 million.

European record

Photo: Simon Jacobs/Zuma/Global Look Press

In Europe's most popular lottery, EuroMillions, the winning amounts are also huge. The largest jackpot here is €190 million and has been won twice since the lottery's inception in 2004. In 2012, the winners of this amount were Adrian and Gillian Bayford from the UK, and in 2014, the winning combination was guessed by a resident of Portugal.

Two months before the record

In June 2017, two months before the current record, Powerball hit another major jackpot of $447.8 million ($279.1 in a lump sum). The winner bought the ticket in California, at a small store that sells alcohol. The lottery organizers decided to reward the sellers, who received a check for $1 million.

Russian record

Photo: Sergey Kiselev / Kommersant

The largest win in the history of Russian lotteries in May 2017 went to a Sochi resident who bought a Gosloto “6 out of 45” ticket. The winnings amounted to 364.686 million rubles. The record came in the 2943rd circulation. The previous record win for Russia (358 million) took place in 2016, and was won by a resident of Novosibirsk.

They say that the main difficulty for beginners is choosing the lottery itself. And of course, no one hides the fact that the size of the super prize plays a vital and even decisive role when choosing a lottery. We decided to make the task easier for our participants and tell you which of the Russian state lotteries you can win the biggest super prizes in.

"Russian Lotto" and Jackpot

Hearing the word “Jackpot”, we immediately remember the Russian Lotto lottery and its permanent presenter Mikhail Borisov. It is he who reminds us every time that the lottery Jackpot will be played on the 15th move, the minimum size of which is 100 million rubles. Why do we say "minimal"? Because the Jackpot is cumulative and grows from draw to draw. For example, in March 2017 it reached 139 million! And if you want to win the largest Jackpot in Russia, then hurry up to purchase Russian Lotto tickets for the next draw.

The Russian Lotto jackpot is played on the 15th move

Biggest lottery win

Surely you have heard about the great event that took place in February last year. A resident of Novosibirsk has won more than 358 million rubles in the history of Russian lotteries. He managed to do this thanks to a detailed bet in Gosloto “6 out of 45”.
“Gosloto “6 out of 45” is one of the most popular lotteries. The largest super prizes in Russia were awarded here. The minimum guaranteed super prize is 50 million rubles, but, as in the case of the Russian Lotto Jackpot, the super prize is cumulative. And it accumulates in Gosloto “6 out of 45” very quickly, so big wins are not uncommon here.

Largest guaranteed super prize

“Gosloto “4 out of 20” is a lottery sensation of last year, the appearance of which has been talked about for several months. The lottery instantly became one of the most beloved and popular among our regular participants, because the guaranteed super prize here is a record 300 million rubles!

Guaranteed super prize “Gosloto “4 out of 20” - 300 million rubles

The first draw of Gosloto 4 out of 20 took place on December 31. Then special attention was focused on it, because in honor of such a significant event as the first circulation, and such a wonderful holiday as the New Year, it was decided to increase the super prize to ! The whole country watched the drawing of the largest super prize in Russia live on the NTV channel. Then the Gosloto “4 out of 20” super prize was not won, but all participants immediately fell in love with the lottery.

Now you can compete for the largest super prize in Russia three times a week. The lucky person who managed to guess four numbers in field 1 and four numbers in field 2 will win the coveted 300 million rubles. Why don't you be that lucky one?

Become a lottery millionaire

Large super prizes in Russia can be won in various state lotteries. For example, in Gosloto “7 out of 49” the guaranteed super prize is 100 million rubles. Agree, this is a very impressive amount, for which you want to compete.

A large super prize in Russia can be won in various lotteries

Gosloto “5 out of 36” also often offers big super prizes. The winner of the 1349th lottery draw won more than 47 million rubles. By the way, in an interview, the millionaire admitted: despite the fact that he won such a large sum, he is not going to stop there and believes that luck will smile on him again.

In the USA, the largest jackpot in the world was won in the popular Powerball lottery - the amount was $1.5 billion! The name of the winner is not yet known, but lottery officials said the winning ticket was purchased in a suburb of Los Angeles, California.

The lottery is held in 44 states across the country, and winning Powerball is always a sensation. The coveted prize goes to the one who correctly indicates the numbers of five white balls and one red, which is called Powerball.

In the meantime, while the name of the lucky winner is being revealed, let's look at other darlings of fortune who won the largest Powerball lottery jackpots, find out how much money they won and what they spent it on.

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In 2014, 75-year-old Emma Duvall won $2 million. She chose numbers that she found in a fortune cookie in a New York store.

A 19-year-old construction worker named Jonathan Vargas won $35 million in 2008. Jonathan chose the numbers using his family's birth dates and ages. He later created the women's wrestling channel Wrestlicious.

In 2001, ex-con David Edwards (who was convicted of armed robbery) won $41 million. David bought a mansion in Florida and a private jet. In just five years, he spent all his winnings and died at the age of 58 in a hospice.

In 2009, 27-year-old Jeffrey Wilson won $88 million. Jeffrey says that after winning, little has changed in his life, except that he began to live in a bigger house. He donated part of the money to a children's hospital.

In 2005, 34-year-old Brad Duke won $220 million. However, after winning, Brad continued to drive his old car and work for another two and a half years. The fitness center instructor used his money wisely - he hired a team of financial advisors and invested his winnings.

In 2009, retired government employee Solomon Jackson won $259 million. Mr. Jackson gave generous sums of money to a variety of educational causes, including Morris College, from which he graduated.

The Hill family won $293 million. The modest and pious family plans to spend the money on the education of their children (three sons and one adopted girl), grandchildren and nephews.

In 2002, the contracting firm's 55-year-old president, Andrew Whittaker, won $314 million. Andrew donated 10% of his winnings to Christian charities, and he spent the other 14 million to open a fund to help families in need in West Virginia. Unfortunately, life after winning did not work out for the former businessman - he was persecuted by people who wanted to cash in on his luck, and two daughters died of drug overdoses.

In 2013, Pedro Quezada from New Jersey won $338 million. The former store owner used part of his winnings to pay alimony to his family.

ConAgra Foods employees won $365 million. The lucky ones managed their money in different ways - some built a house in Vietnam, some quit their jobs and live on the interest from their investments, some simply enjoy life and do what they love, and two of the winners even got married.

In 2013, 16 employees of a machine maintenance company shared a $448 million winnings. The reaction of the winners was different - some were incredibly happy about the money, especially after the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, and some expressed dissatisfaction due to the increased attention from the media.

In 2013, 84-year-old Gloria McKenzie of Florida, a retired teacher, won $590 million. We can say that it was the will of fate: an elderly woman was missed in line for lottery tickets and she bought a ticket with the numbers already selected.

Characteristics

Chances of winning

EuroJackpot Lottery appeared three years ago in March, when its first circulation was presented and carried out. Every year, more and more countries appear that begin to take part in this exciting and profitable lotto.

What do you need to do to be able to participate in this lottery?

In order to become a participant in the drawing of the main prize in this lottery, you need to decide on five main and two additional numbers. These numbers may also be called star or euro numbers. The main numbers are all numbers from one to fifty, and the additional numbers are from one to ten. In order to become a jackpot winner, you must match seven balls at once, which are called lucky balls. In addition, the lotto also offers eleven other prizes, so do not be upset if you are not the lucky winner of the main prize, because some additional ones are worth hundreds of thousands of euros!

General information about the prize fund of each lottery draw

As for the amount of prizes offered, they directly depend on the prize fund available for each specific draw. According to general statistics, thirty-six percent is the jackpot, and nineteen percent is other prizes. As for another twelve percent, they are used by an increase fund, which guarantees that the main prize cannot fall below ten million euros!

What are the chances of winning the European EuroJackpot lottery?

If we talk about the chances of winning in the above lottery, then they are equal to 1 in 42, while the main prize is in the ratio of 1 to 95,344,200. If the winner of the jackpot is still undecided, the prize can be transferred to the next draws up to until it reaches ninety million euros! The excess prize fund must then be distributed to those participating in the next winning category.

Anyone can become a participant!

Although you may think that only European countries that participate in the EuroJackpot lottery can take part in this lottery, this is not at all the case: today, no matter what country you are in, you have a unique opportunity to take advantage of a lottery concierge service who will be happy to help you purchase lotto tickets online. Thus, using the above service, you will not need to check your purchased tickets, because they will be automatically checked and, in the case of a winning combination, will be credited to your personal account.

Diversity of the prize fund and its main advantages

As for the prizes offered by the EuroJackpot lottery, they are characterized by extreme diversity: the main prize is a guaranteed opportunity to win ten million euros. If in one draw several winning tickets with a jackpot are determined at once, then in this case the main prize should be divided into equal parts among all the lucky owners of the winning tickets.

Features of the EuroJackpot game

Sometimes it happens that none of the players participating in the EuroJackpot lottery was able to guess the winning combination that provides the jackpot. In this case, the organizers of this drawing decide to transfer the entire amount of the main prize of this drawing to the next one. Thus, according to the official rules of this European lottery, the accumulation of the prize fund occurs, which concerns the amount of the main jackpot of a particular draw. Using the function of transferring the jackpot to the next draws, you can achieve an incredible amount of winnings: every person on the planet dreams of such a surprise! The maximum jackpot amount that will no longer be carried over is ninety million euros. If an amount exceeds the above maximum amount accumulates, the entire excess must be equally distributed among the participants who managed to become winners of the next prize category.

As for the variety of prize categories and chances of winning, the EuroJackpot lottery is a unique opportunity to become the owner of a surprisingly huge amount of money that will make all your dreams come true!

Thanks to European lottery EuroJackpot everyone can not only become a participant, but also the happy owner of incredibly nice prizes! In order to start your path to success, you don’t even need to look all over the city for the right ticket: now everything is available online, where, using automatic verification, you don’t even have to wait for the lottery time, because if you win, the cash prize will automatically be transferred to your personal account!

There is probably not a person who has never tried his luck by playing the lottery in his life. By purchasing a ticket for a hundred rubles, everyone becomes a potential millionaire. But luck is a capricious thing, and not everyone has had the opportunity to win, and winning big prizes is the lot of only a few.

Lotteries are played all over the world. In Russia, only 1-2% of the population participates in lotteries, for comparison: the share of players in France is 70% of the total population of the country, in the USA - 63%. Such a small percentage of players in Russia is explained by Russians’ distrust of lotteries. But among these percentages there are also winners who hit large jackpots.

Most lucky winners try to remain anonymous and do not tell anyone about their winnings. And this, of course, is correct, because big money attracts many ill-wishers, as well as new and old friends, new relatives. Below are the 7 biggest lottery wins in Russia.

Seventh place. A chidhood dream

On May 29, 2015, a 37-year-old resident of the Kaliningrad region won 126 million rubles in the “6 out of 45” lottery. The winner became interested in lotteries as a child; ever since he and his grandfather bought his first tickets, he dreamed of becoming a famous lottery winner. According to him, his grandfather was very fond of lotteries, and when the prize drawing began on TV, everyone in the house fell silent.

The lucky one promised to spend his winnings on building a playground for all the children in the area and, of course, for himself - a big house.

Sixth place. Shock of victory

184 million rubles won in draw 735 dated February 10, 2014 of the “6 out of 45” lottery changed the life of one employee of a construction company from Omsk. I spent 800 rubles. He did not leave the house for three days, the shock of winning affected him so much. The dream of the winner and father of three children was to buy a big house by the sea in warmer climes.

Fifth place. The winner is anonymous

August 2014 and the Gosloto 6 out of 45 lottery brought a win of 202 million rubles to a 45-year-old resident of Nizhny Novgorod, who was shocked by the victory for a month. The victory cost him 700 rubles. In his interviews, he asked to remain anonymous, since at first he did not want to tell anyone about his winnings. All that is known about him is that he is married and has two children.

Fourth place. One hundred ruble ticket

300 million rubles - such a win awaited a resident of Novosibirsk in the Gosloto 4 out of 20 lottery on May 30, 2017. His lucky ticket cost only 100 rubles on the Stoloto website. What is noteworthy is that the winnings of more than 300 million rubles in this lottery were played for the first time.

Third place. Doctor who doesn't believe in his luck

On February 27, 2016, in the “State Lottery 6 out of 45,” a doctor from Novosibirsk was lucky and won just over 358 million rubles. The bet cost him 1,800 rubles. For three weeks the winner was going to Moscow to claim his winnings; all this time it seemed like a dream to him. According to the doctor himself, he checked the ticket six times and could not believe his luck; only by calling the call center of the lottery organizer could he verify his victory. The winner himself is not new to lotteries; he has been playing for about 2 years, using his winning formula. In an interview with Stoloto, the Novosibirsk resident said that he would spend part of the money on charity, as well as on developing his business and on real estate in Moscow.

Second place. Excitement around victory

On May 21, 2017, 364 million rubles were drawn in the “6 out of 45” lottery. The winner was a resident of Sochi, who spent 700 rubles on a bet in the mobile application. The newly made millionaire is a cultural worker. Due to the huge excitement that arose around the winnings, at the family council it was decided to go for the money all together, but they did not have enough money for tickets, so the winner did not collect the winnings for a long time. According to her, she wanted to contribute a third of the money to the election fund of the political party Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Until recently, it was considered the last big lottery win in Russia. But 2017 is rich in records.

First place. Modest retired millionaire

The largest lottery win in Russia belongs to a resident of the Voronezh region, who won a fabulous sum of 506 million rubles in the Russian Lotto lottery. Such a large sum was drawn on November 5, 2017 in a draw of 1204, and today is the largest lottery win in the history of Russia.

The lottery organizers searched for the 63-year-old winner for 2 weeks, as the lucky girl could not believe her luck. “Russian Lotto for a family is the best gift for the holidays,” notes the new millionaire. The Voronezh pensioner said that she would spend this money to help her children and grandchildren, and also donate part of the money to charity.

Money can not buy happiness

Large winnings in lotteries in Russia and abroad have not brought only happiness to everyone; there are those for whom the winnings turned out differently.

In 2001, unemployed spouses from Ufa became winners in the Bingo Show lottery and won 29 million rubles. However, winning did not bring happiness. The couple spent the entire prize within 5 years. But the main misfortune was the death of one of the winners due to alcohol abuse. According to one version, everything was facilitated by new relatives and friends who appeared from nowhere, asking for money for their needs and getting the spouses drunk.

The winner of the “6 out of 45” lottery, a resident of the Leningrad region, Albert Begrakyan, who won 100 million rubles, after 2 years was left with debts to the state. Albert invested in real estate, expensive cars, land for building a hotel, but ended up with a debt of 4 and a half million rubles to the state.

In 2006, an incident worthy of any crime drama happened to a US resident, Abraham Shakespeare. No sooner had he won $30 million than he had many relatives. But the scammers did not stand aside either. One lady approached Shakespeare and promised to help him manage his money correctly. And she gave orders: she transferred all the money to her own account, and soon Shakespeare himself was found dead with two bullets in his chest.

Jack Whittaker was a successful businessman, family man, and philanthropist until he won a major jackpot in 2002. Whittaker became addicted to drinking alcohol, gambling, and abandoned his family. Within a few years, his entire fortune was spent and his business collapsed.

Jackpots in world lotteries

But even the largest lottery winnings in Russia cannot be compared with the main prizes in lotteries around the world. Residents of the United States are big fans of lotteries, because the largest jackpots are played on American lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions. So, the largest lottery winnings in the world belong to:

1. On August 24, 2017, an American won more than 758 million US dollars in the Powerball lottery. This is the largest win in this lottery and lotteries in the world, which came from one ticket. An interesting feature of the lottery is that the prize can be received in parts over 29 years or taken at once, but then the winning amount will be significantly less (about 2 times).

2. On January 16, 2016, three Americans shared an unprecedented winnings in the Powerball lottery - $1.5 billion. The chance of winning was only 1 in 290 million.

3. In May 2014, a resident of the US state of Florida won the jackpot of the same Powerball lottery, which amounted to $590 million.

How to win the lottery?

The question of how to win the lottery arises for all players. There is no set way to win. Every winner has his own secret of success, but not everyone is ready to share it. Most argue that it is just luck and luck, others follow certain rules:

• They play with an expanded bet, i.e. choosing more numbers than possible in a regular bet. Of course, an expanded bet involves more investments, but the chance of winning increases.
• They regularly participate in lotteries and constantly use the same combination. They are waiting for the chosen combination to bring the long-awaited prize.
• They play with friends, the so-called lottery syndicate. In this case, a group of people buys as many tickets as possible for one lottery, and if they win, they divide everything in half.
• Various mathematical formulas are used.

There are also those who believe in lucky days, numbers, clothes, talismans. They buy tickets, choose the numbers on the ticket that are meaningful to them, and use various spells to win.

Statistics of large lottery winnings in Russia indicate that every year the number of participants is growing, and so are the winnings. The probability of hitting the jackpot is negligible and depends on the specific lottery. For example, the opportunity to win in the Gosloto 5 out of 36 lottery is approximately 1 in 367 thousand, in the Gosloto 6 out of 45 lottery - 1 in 8 million, in the Russian Lotto - 1 in 7 million.

If this article has inspired someone to buy a ticket, remember that the winning percentage is very small, play for fun, and maybe you’ll get lucky.