It is difficult to answer the question of why people buy lottery tickets, because the chance to get rich in this way is negligible. Most likely, this is an area of psychological science, but large gains in history stimulate the gambling business, and many people continue to buy treasured tickets in the hope of winning large amounts. That's about the biggest lottery winnings today and we will tell in our review.
The biggest lottery winnings:
Big Game / $ 363,000,000 / 2000
The largest jackpot in the history of gambling in US history in 2000 was played by two Americans. For two, it turned out $ 363 million, and they received less all taxes at 90 million dollars.
As one of the lucky winners later admitted, for the first time he was forced to take a ticket, since, having bought a hot dog, the seller could not give change from a hundred, and had to take tickets.
Mega Millions / $ 149,000,000 / 2004
The undisputed leader in terms of the number of players playing and the amount won is the United States. There are two popular lotteries in the USA: Mega Millions and Powerball.
The first major win in the history of the Mega Million draw went to watchman Juan Rodriguez, a native of Colombia. Out of desperation, the dollar remained on the Colombian bank account, he bought a ticket and won $ 149 million.
Powerball / $ 340,000,000 / 2005
A family couple from Oregon and their daughter with her husband did not even think that the $ 40 spent would enrich them for $ 340 million.
Tickets were bought by Francis Cheney, who was 69 years old on the day of purchase, and she was very scared by such a large amount, but her husband was more optimistic, and the first thing he did was buy a yellow Hammer.
Mega Millions / $ 230,000,000 / 2006
At one of Virginia's gas stations, a lottery ticket was purchased for delivery after refueling the car, which brought the owner a gain of 230 million.
The management of the game awarded a cash prize and a gas station, where they issued a ticket for change.
Mega Millions / $ 390,000,000 / 2007
One of the largest dekpots at that time was played out on the night of March 7, 2007.
As a result, the sum of $ 390 million was divided between two winners. A family from New Jersey and a trucker who bought a ticket at a Georgia state store.
Powerball / $ 254,000,000 / 2008
84-year-old World War II veteran bought a Powerball ticket, which brought a gain of $ 254 million.
James Wilson, so called the lucky one, gave most of the winnings to his children.
Gosloto 6 out of 45 / ₽ 100,000,000 / 2009
But the largest jackpot in Russia was won by a native of Armenia Albert Begrakyan, who guessed 6 numbers and received more than one hundred million rubles.
Interestingly, in 2001, the Bergakyan family moved to the United States from Russia.
Grand Lotto 6/55 / ∼ $ 14,500,000 / 2010
2010 was successful for one of the inhabitants of the Philippines, who won 741 million pesos.
The holder of the largest winnings in Asia, like many other lucky ones, did not reveal his identity to the world, therefore we do not know how he managed the money.
Mega-Sena / ∼ $ 46,000,000 / 2010
Brazil's largest lottery draws are held on Saturday and Wednesday, starting in 1961.
In 2010, the largest gain was 195 million reais. It was a special draw held on December 31, and therefore the amount is so large. The winner of the biggest win in Latin America wished to remain anonymous.
Euromillions / 185,000,000 € / 2011 year
After seven years since the Euromillions lottery started, a married couple from Scotland, having bought a lottery ticket, guessed 5 numbers and 2 additional ones. As a result, this combination brought 185 million euros.
Spouses Colin and Chris Weir, who live near Glasgow, after winning, got to the pages of the list of the richest people in the UK.
OZ lotto / ∼ $ 75,000,000 / 2012
This Australian lottery began raffles in 1994, and in 2012 the largest jackpot in Australia was hit today, equal to the record amount at that time - 112 million Australian dollars.
The win was divided among four families from different cities of Australia. It is simply amazing how four people at once were able to guess the winning combination.
MegaMillions / $ 1,130,000,000 / 2012
Megamillion's record jackpot was hit by three players from different cities of the United States.
None of the winners gave their name, but that is their right. Superstition is one of the main components of the big game.
Gosloto 6 of 45 / ₽ 61 548 163/2013
In 2013, one of the draws brought luck to two residents of Russia who decided to play the lotto according to the detailed scheme.
As a result, the first, having invested almost 4 thousand rubles, received 61 million 548 thousand 163 rubles. The second, a resident of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, having spent 1,200 rubles, made a fortune of 60 million 917 thousand 821 rubles.
Powerball / $ 598,000,000 / 2013
598 million dollars received 84-year-old resident of Florida, who bought a ticket at the box office.
As she later admitted, the man missed her in line, and this, probably, was a happy occasion and a lot of luck. TheBiggest.ru editors wish all our readers such luck!
Gosloto 6 of 45 / ₽ 202 441 116/2014 year
In 2014, Nizhny Novgorod became the winner of the lottery. He took the win by refusing to comment on his luck.
In the same year, a resident of Omsk won 184 million rubles.
Gosloto 6 of 45 / ₽ 126 925 000/2015
In 2015, a resident of Kaliningrad became the winner of the lottery. A 47-year-old engineer from childhood was fond of the lottery and wanted to become famous as a winner. After the victory, the man promised to spend the winnings on building a house and building a playground.
Gosloto 6 of 45 / ₽ 358,000,000 / 2016
In 2016, the winner from Novosibirsk won an amount equal to 358 million rubles.
Gosloto 6 of 45 / ₽ 364,000,000 / 2017
364 million rubles. This jackpot was in the 2017 draw of the popular Gosloto lottery.
Powerball / $ 758,700,000 / 2017
In the state of Massachusetts, in one of the supermarkets a ticket was purchased that enriched its holder by $ 758.7 million.
This is the biggest win in US history, and indeed the largest jackpot in the entire history of the draws in the world.
So far, the media have not reported his identity, and maybe the ticket holder himself does not want it.
Stoloto / ₽ 1 billion / 2020
A record billion rubles was received by a resident of the Moscow Region Nadezhda Bartosh, participating in the Stoloto New Year's draw. So far, this is the largest lottery win in Russia.
Conclusion
We did not present all the major winnings that happened in the history of lotteries in our list of only 15.
For obvious reasons, many lucky winners who won large sums in the lottery or hit the jackpot want to remain incognito. There are two reasons, the first is the fear of robbery, and the second, oddly enough, the appearance of a large number of relatives and friends, after someone suddenly gets rich.
TheBiggest editorial staff asks you to write interesting stories related to the lottery in the comments to the article. What are your biggest lottery winnings?