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El Gordo Loteria is the world’s largest lottery. Organized by the Spanish government, the lottery pays as much as €2 billion in the way of prizes. The El Gordo Loteria has gained a lot in popularity because of its prizes, traditions and great odds of winning.
The results of the El Gordo Loteria are announced every year during the Christmas season, and these results of the El Gordo Loteria draw are announced over live television. Every year, this is done on the 22nd of December. It takes slightly over three hours for the draw to be concluded. This is mainly due to the sheer volume of prizes to be won.
The way the results of the El Gordo Loteria are announced is rather interesting. Balls are picked from two bowls—one containing the prizes and the other containing the ticket numbers.
The results or the winning numbers of the El Gordo Loteria are sung by children from the San Ilidefonso School in Madrid. One child picks the prize. Another selects the matching ticket number and a third one, sings the result. It is estimated that as much as 98% of Spain watches the draw.
The El Gordo Loteria draw is restricted to only 85,000 numbered tickets or what is also known as "billete". These can be purchased but are generally expensive (as much as €200).
Each of the tickets is sub-
Each of the ticket numbers is sold not just once, but as much as 195 times in a "series". This means that if a ticket number wins, 195 tickets automatically win. This is what increases the results of the El Gordo Loteria. The winning Jackpot number can be won by 19500 people!
Each tenth of a ticket or decimo wins €300,000 (three hundred thousand Euros) and each full ticket of 10 decimo wins three million Euros.
The main prizes are: Here’s a peek at some of the prizes that you can win with the El Gordo Loteria
195 x jackpot prizes of €3 million each
195 x prizes of €1 million each
195 x prizes of €500,000 each
390 x prizes of €200,000 each
1,560 x prizes of €50,000 each
345,930 x prizes of €1,000 each
There are many other prizes available ranging from €20,000 to €200 Euros.
Because of the high cost of a single ticket, it is not uncommon for families and friends to collectively pay for tickets. The resultant prize is then shared amongst themselves.
A word of caution:
While it’s easy to see why the El Gordo Loteria is so popular, you want to make sure that you do not fall for any El Gordo Loteria scams. There are plenty of those going around, and the best way not to fall for it, is by knowing what things to look out for. If you’re not too sure, take a look at our Spanish Lottery scam page, where you can find more details.