Jackpot and won $758.7 million - the largest prize ever awarded to one 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 winnings on one ticket up to today
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 amount was $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 Great Britain, 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.
Believe me, there are such huge winnings in the lottery that the numbers just don’t fit in your mind. Another question is whether the data on winnings is true, whether fake persons received them, whether they received them at all, etc.
Such stories are needed, at a minimum, so that people continue to buy lottery tickets, feeding the founders of the business.
Today we will talk about the biggest lottery winnings.
Just recently I heard on TV that a Russian family (mother and adult daughter) won 500 million rubles in the lottery, they were photographed for the media, smiling (we are talking about the November 2017 win, Voronezh). And evil commentators echoed - “they are stupid, they will be found and robbed, it’s clear that they are from the village,” “ ex-husband Now he finds out about the situation that has befallen his head and will supposedly come to restore the family, new relatives will appear.”
But I had other thoughts: “well, a person can’t win 500 million rubles in our country... and he can’t win abroad either... especially a billion dollars. And if anyone got such a prize, it would probably be “dummy people,” but they look too simple to be dummies.”
Do you believe that a person on the street who buys a random lottery ticket can win huge sums of money, hit the jackpot, as they say?
We see many stories on TV where mere mortals have won lotteries; neighbors give interviews, confirming that these same “Petya and Vasya, Masha and Sasha” from the first floor, always unemployed and cheerful, won a couple of million rubles. And no one expected it, but it got lucky. Usually, no one tells us, the viewers, where the newly-made millionaires spent their money, or they provide meager information... However, about several families, especially those who squandered great wealth to nowhere, few details are known. For example, about the family of Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova.
But this is all on the screen, but have you personally had examples when your neighbors “hit the Jackpot”?? I have no. Except that I myself have won several thousand rubles in competitions a couple of times, but this is not a lottery. Among my friends, including those who actively buy lottery tickets, there is not a single one who has won. I don’t know whether it’s true or fiction that it’s possible to win, but a person, especially a Russian, will always hope for chance and luck more than anything else.
Let's talk about the largest lottery winnings among Russians.
Yuri Ivanov from Tolyatti won about 1 million rubles. As the hero says, he has been buying tickets regularly for 23 years, and he dreamed of the winning ticket numbers in a dream. Well, this story is quite capable of cheering up those who have spent several salaries on lottery tickets and half their lives waiting for a prize - wait, perhaps there is still more to come!
A resident of the village of Vargashi, Kurgan region, won 1 million rubles, and became the luckiest villager who hit the jackpot in lotteries, because before that, residents of the outback had not received more than 200 thousand rubles.
Alexander Osterenko from Samara region won 2.5 million rubles in 2011.
A Russian Railways passenger once won 11 million rubles on a passenger ticket, they searched for him for two weeks. Yes, according to the media, this is possible - winning a multimillion-dollar sum just by buying a Russian Railways ticket. A little later, another lucky person from Russian Railways won 8 million rubles.
On December 30, 2001, Nadezhda Mukhametzyanova, with her husband and children, won 29 million rubles in the Bingo Show. At the same time, as sources say, the spouses bought two apartments and two cars with the winnings, but they spent a lot of money on drinking and slot machines. The cars broke down after accidents, the apartment burned down in a fire, the wife died a few years later from a trophic ulcer, and the husband lives unsociable in the second apartment with his sons.
In 2009, Moscow resident Evgeny Sidorov won 35 million rubles in the Gosloto lottery. The man spent his winnings very wisely: he left with his family for his homeland, in the Lipetsk region, and organized his own farm and production for breeding carp.
100 million rubles went to Albert Begrakyan from St. Petersburg in 2009 (“Gosloto 6 out of 45”), Of these, the lucky one built a hotel for 16.5 million rubles, bought real estate, a car, and helped his relatives.
In 2015, a resident of Kaliningrad won 126.9 million rubles in the mobile phone lottery.
In 2014 (“Gosloto 6 out of 45”) Omsk resident Valery T won 184 million rubles. His lottery bet was 810 rubles.
In the same 2014, a certain Mikhail from Nizhny Novgorod won 200 million rubles.
In 2016, a resident of Novosibirsk hit the jackpot in the Gosloto lottery with as much as 358 million rubles, The lucky guy kept his name secret.
At the end of autumn 2017, a pensioner from Voronezh won 506 million rubles in the Stoloto lottery(although earlier they said it was a man). And this is the biggest lottery win in Russia. People comment on this event in different ways, and that now the grandmother will have to hide, otherwise, out of stupidity, she appeared on TV, that they will be persecuted, and others write:
“Don’t worry, no one will hide anywhere, because there was no woman from Voronezh who won 500 million rubles. This lottery is promoting itself so that fools1 buy tickets more actively. Do you really think that an ordinary person can win 500 million rubles?”
“They found a grandmother from a remote Siberian village, gave her 50 thousand or whatever she needed, called her by a different name and now, buy our tickets to NG, what kind of PR we did for ourselves throughout the country, how sales will increase2.
“Yes, there is no 500 million. And this grandmother was paid 20 thousand. For this number on TV. Now she sits in the village of Glukharevo and no one will find her....”
There were several well-known cases when big wins(26 million rubles) were not given to the Russians, for example, one person has been trying to get his winnings released for several years to no avail.
And now about the biggest ones lottery winnings in the world.
In 2000, the American received $363 million.
In 2002, a West Virginian ripped off D jackpot of $314.9 million.
Colombian Juan Rodriguez, who worked as a watchman, won $149 million in 2004.
In 2004, a US citizen won $209 million.
In 2005, the American won $340 million.
In 2006, the American won $230 million.
In 2006, again in America, the winnings were $365 million.
In 2008, an 84-year-old Missouri retiree won $254 million.
In 2007, Mega Millions gave away $390 million.
In 2013, three US residents won $488 million, the prize was divided among three.
In 2014, a California retiree hit a $425 million jackpot.
In 2012, two US residents won $587 million each, the prize was divided in half.
A Florda resident won $590 million in 2013. At that time, such a jackpot became a record.
In 2012, Mega Millions gave away as much as $640 million!! The prize was shared by two lucky winners.
Well, now it’s an unrealistic amount!! And to be honest, I don’t believe that it went to ordinary people.
In 2016, the world's largest winnings occurred in the Powerball lottery - $1 billion 586 million, which went to three lucky ones, half a billion dollars each.
So far the records for the world and for Russia are as follows: in Russia the biggest win was 500 million, in the world 1.5 billion dollars for three.
In Russia, only 1% of the population plays lotteries, while for example in France, the USA, 65-70% of the population plays.
Is it true. That's how long I don't go to the post office - half the line is buying lottery tickets. I can’t imagine how things are going in France then, if there are 70 times more lottery fans there than here.
One of the problems with quick wins is that they are ephemeral. Gifts of fate, “freebies” disappear as quickly as they appear. And the millions that have fallen on our heads sometimes bring more troubles than joy. For example, a person who did not know the value of earning money does not know how to behave with it, he begins to spend everything chaotically or is afraid of it. Families break up, people become greedy and evil. But of course, good examples There is. When people used their winnings in a profitable business, but for this it was necessary that the person initially had business experience and knew how to earn money. And everyone who lived by drinking and partying - they spent it all on them...
« A person has a material threshold: the amount of money that he is used to managing. It is installed subconsciously. As a rule, income increases gradually: the salary is increased - the psyche has adapted to the increase. And when a huge sum falls from the sky, it is too much work for the body. A person simply does not know how to manage that kind of money. Doesn't know what to do with them. It becomes a burden rather than a joy.
Plus, distant relatives and old acquaintances begin to show up. This is additional stress. And here mechanisms that are not subject to consciousness come into play. You're just trying your best to get rid of money. That is why such winnings often simply go down the drain. Or even worse - they get drunk very quickly. This makes it easier. It is almost impossible to cope with such stress on your own. It’s better to seek help from professional psychologists.”
Of course, I would like to say - someone is lucky, I wish it were like that, at least a couple of million just like that!!! But as the sage said, it is better to teach a person to fish than to give it to him... Those who do not know how to catch will eat and be hungry again, and those who know how to catch will always be full.
Excerpt from an old man's dialogue Soviet film, when a Sportloto ticket cost 60 kopecks and the maximum winnings were 20 thousand rubles:
“Win or win, what difference does it make? Not in this case! And the fact is that for 60 kopecks I have hope of winning 10 or 20 thousand rubles!!!”
Who hasn’t at least once thought of buying a lottery ticket and trying their luck, especially in the context of the ongoing financial crisis? A couple of extra millions could easily solve money problems and be a ticket to happy life for anyone ordinary person. But Fortune is an unpredictable and capricious goddess. Not everyone is lucky: someone buys tickets often, but never wins. And some people get millions on the first try. Who are the lucky ones who are lucky enough to win the most large amounts?
Jack Whittaker
This man is the owner of the largest US lottery winnings in history - a whopping $315 million. Moreover, Whittaker was far from the poorest man - at the time of such a joyful event, he served as president of one of the large construction corporations. However, the day he purchased the ticket did not make Whittaker any happier. Jack decided to take the winnings not in parts, but all at once. After deducting taxes, he was left with an amount almost three times less than the initial winnings - only $113.4 million.
As befits a good Christian, Whittaker donated ten percent of this amount to a charitable foundation. religious organizations. He also gave the lucky ticket seller a car and a house.
But that's it white stripe in Whittaker's life came to an end. Jack has been arrested several times for driving while intoxicated. In the summer of 2003, thieves broke into his car and stole almost half a million dollars. In January 2004, he was robbed again for $200,000. And in the same year, Whittaker was arrested - the reason was threats to kill the manager in a bar where he was a regular and a drinker.
And the last straw was another robbery - now Whittaker's bank accounts were already damaged. In September 2006, robbers used forged checks to clean out all of the former lucky guy's bank accounts. This was the sad end to the biggest lottery win ever.
Brad Duke is a smart winner
But there is an opposite story - and this is a win for Brad Duke, who worked as a manager at Ohio State. He approached the money received much more rationally. The amount of $85 million, which was one of the largest winnings in the lottery, was divided into several parts. Duke invested 45 million in securities of those companies where the risk of loss was minimal and the profit was highest. I decided to invest another 35 million in companies with high risks, however big income- oil and gas corporations. With the 5 million that were left, Duke went with friends to Hawaii, paid for his studies and a loan for housing.
Win by Juan Rodriguez
Another of the biggest lottery wins went to a Colombian named Juan Rodriguez. The amount was no less than $149 million.
Rodriguez worked as a watchman, and the constant lack of money was the reason for incessant scandals with his wife. At the time when poor Juan had only one dollar left in his pocket, the amount of his debts was already about 44 thousand dollars. It was then that he decided to try his luck and buy a lottery ticket. However, this story was overshadowed only by the fact that ten days after winning, Juan’s wife filed for divorce. In a court ex-wife said he “could have won more.”
Generous Vietnamese
Most big win in the world lottery, which went to the oldest winner, amounted to 310 thousand dollars. This amount went to a 97-year-old man from Vietnam named Nguyen Van Het. He spent almost his entire adult life in poverty. No one expected the old peasant to decide to play the lottery.
He purchased a lucky lottery ticket with money given to him by his relatives. Immediately after news of the win became known, neighbors began to gather around his house. The old man was so happy that he started giving money to everyone. To prevent him from being completely left without money, the authorities had to intervene.
Retired from South Carolina
Another of the biggest lottery wins of all time went to South Carolina resident Solomon Jackson. He won $260 million in a lottery called Powerball. The pensioner decided not to publicize his plans for the future. All that is known about the winner is that he worked as an employee all his life and retired in 2000. The amount that Jackson won was the largest lottery win in the history of Powerball. The pensioner purchased his lucky ticket for only $2 at a gas station.
The Story of Ralph and Mary Stabbnis
This story is one of the grim examples where monetary luck is followed by a streak of serious misfortune. The couple became the winners of the American lottery called Mega Millions in 2005. It was one of the company's largest lottery winnings ever, at $208 million. The couple chose to first take the smaller portion, which was allowed by the lottery rules - 125 million. The remaining amount was to be paid to them over several decades. The Stabbnises planned to pay off their debts, purchase a farm, invest the money they won in maintaining and breeding cows, and live the lifestyle of ordinary provincials for the rest of their days.
Mary and Ralph lived together for 23 years and had three children. Both of them immediately left their previous jobs after winning - Ralph was an ordinary worker in a mining company, and Mary received about $7 an hour working as a saleswoman. However, the win did not make the couple happy. In the fall of 2006, Ralph Stabbnis was accused of attempting to kill his daughter's friend, as well as possessing a weapon. Less than two months later he died of a heart attack.
Lucky combination
Another Mega Millions jackpot was not so unfortunate. It was divided between two winners - a resident of Washington named Jim McCular and a resident of the state of Ihado who wished to remain anonymous. $380 million was the largest lottery win in the world in 2011. What numbers did these lucky ones get? It was a sequence of numbers 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and 42. Residents of the United States noticed that this series was repeated several times in episodes of the TV series Lost. According to the plot, they also brought the hero of the series named Hurley luck in the lottery.
The story of a poor waitress
However, more often than not, a lottery win brings misfortune to its owner. This was the case with a Las Vegas waitress named Cynthia Jay. She decided to go to the casino after work. She didn’t intend to leave a lot of money in the machines - she only had $27 in her hands. Cynthia decided to play a lottery called the One-Armed Bandit. Gradually she lost one dollar after another and was about to leave. Suddenly, a loud sound was heard throughout the casino, notifying all visitors that they had won the jackpot.
The amount that Cynthia managed to win was about $35 million. It would take her 1,165 years to earn this money as a waitress. However, the luck did not last long. Less than a few months after winning, Cynthia was involved in a serious car accident. The poor girl found herself in wheelchair. She later stated that she would give all the money just to go and work as a waitress again.
Lotteries in the USSR
IN Soviet time lotteries did not bring such misfortunes. Perhaps this was because they did not win astronomical sums - lotteries were created mainly to develop the economy. One of the most popular lotteries of the past was the Sprint lottery (USSR). The biggest win then was 10 thousand rubles. In the first four days after the launch of the lottery, 2 million tickets were sold. Their cost was 50 kopecks. or 1 ruble. It was also possible to win a Volga car, which was of much more interest to Soviet lottery fans.
Also during the Soviet era, sports lotteries were very popular - “Sportloto”, “Sportprognoz”. It is believed that these drawings were the first type of bookmaking in the vastness of the USSR. The prizes that buyers of lottery tickets received were often scarce goods - televisions, refrigerators, washing and sewing machines.
How to win the lottery? A bad soldier is one who does not dream of becoming a general. To paraphrase, we get: “Everyone who buys a lottery ticket dreams of hitting the big jackpot.” What are the chances of winning? And in general, is there any point in buying tickets in the hope of winning? And the most important question that concerns most players is whether there are strategies to increase their chances when playing. Read on and find out everything.
The biggest winnings in Russia and the world
First, let's look at how much money people have won in lotteries here and abroad.
Winning a big jackpot in the lottery is unlikely, but quite realistic. And many “lucky ones” are proof of this. Having received several million by chance, they immediately changed their lifestyle, achieving a fairly stable financial situation that helped them live life to the fullest and not think about where and how to make money. It is these examples of winners that push most people to buy lottery tickets in the hope of catching luck by the tail.
The biggest winnings in Russia
So, who are these lottery winners?
951 thousand in 2008 was won by a resident of Tolyatti. According to him, he has been buying lottery tickets for 23 years. During this time, he developed his own strategy for guessing numbers. But strangely enough, the right combination came to him in a dream. After receiving the winnings, he said that he would continue to play lotteries.
A resident of a small village in the Kurgan region has become exactly a million richer. Luck smiled on him in January 2008. He instantly became the richest guy in the village and an eligible bachelor.
In 2011, the jackpot went to the Samara region. A 27-year-old resident, having spent only 100 rubles on a purchase, became richer by as much as 2.5 million. The money was spent on purchasing real estate.
4 million - this is exactly the amount won by a married couple from the Samara region. They spent all the money on a good cause - building a church.
A resident of Ufa won 30 million on New Year's Eve - December 30, 2001. At that time it was the largest win in Russia. A total of 6 tickets were purchased, one of which became lucky. Not only the whole of Ufa, but also the country learned about the record winnings. A heap of money that unexpectedly fell from the sky turned the family's head. Funds began to be spent thoughtlessly: alcohol, gambling, entertainment. As a result, 10 years after winning, the family spent almost all the money and began to live almost as modestly as before the significant date.
35 million went to a Moscow resident in 2009. A little more than 500 rubles were spent on tickets. The man used this money to start a business in the village where he was from.
Albert Bagrakyan, a resident of a St. Petersburg suburb, won 100 million rubles in 2009. A native of Armenia who emigrated to Russia in 2001, he did not hide his name or appearance. Moreover, 2 years after winning, he gave a detailed interview to the press - how much and on what he spent all his winnings.
The money was spent on building a hotel, purchasing and decorating several apartments, and purchasing premium cars (for myself and relatives). 2 million was donated to charity. Albert lent about 12 million to his friends. By the way, almost no one returned the debt to him. Well, the rest of the money went to pay taxes.
The winnings of 184 million went to a resident of Omsk in February 2014. The man spent 810 rubles on a lucky purchase. It is unknown how his fate turned out, but he planned to go to live in warmer climes, buying a house on the seashore.
The largest lottery win in Russian history was 358 million rubles. This happened during the Gosloto draw in February 2016. The winner, a resident of Novosibirsk, for obvious reasons, decided not to advertise his identity.
The biggest lottery winnings in the world
The biggest winnings in Russia are hundreds of millions. The situation is similar in the world, only the amounts here are calculated in dollars (euros, pounds). As a result, in absolute numbers, lottery winnings in developed countries can bring lucky people 50-100 times more than in our country. The explanation is quite simple - the cost of lottery tickets abroad is many times higher and the circulation of sold out lotteries is tens of times higher than in Russia, so we get phenomenal prize funds.
- 425 million went to a California pensioner in 2014. It is noteworthy that the grandfather did not tell the lottery organizers about his victory for almost a whole month. He showed up to claim his winnings on April Fool's Day, April 1, wearing a Star Wars-themed T-shirt with the inscription "May the luck of the Jedi be with me."
- $488 million was played among 3 participants in 2013.
- $587 million in 2012. The prize fund was shared by 2 winners.
- 590 million went to a Florida resident in the 2013 jackpot drawing. This is the largest win that went to one winner.
- $640 million in 2012. The winnings were divided between 3 lucky winners.
The largest jackpot was won in 2016. The total amount was (and this is not a joke) a mind-blowing 1.5 billion dollars!!! It was shared among three winners. Each received $528 million.
Money generator - what's inside
The lottery is a clearly structured business based on people’s desire to get rich quickly and on simple mathematical statistics. The lottery organizers form prize fund from cash proceeds from ticket sales. Moreover, this amount is never equal to the proceeds from the sale. A certain part, usually half, immediately goes to current expenses (maintaining current activities, ticket printing, distribution, employee salaries, advertising and others) and, of course, into the pocket of the organizers, in the form of net profit.
It turns out that only part of the money goes to the drawing. And if only half. In some lotteries, the share of cash prizes drawn is only 35-40% of all funds collected during the draw. The result is an initially unfavorable prospect for the participants. This is called negative mathematical expectation. When the invested amounts are obviously greater than the total prize fund. This is exactly what almost all gambling games are built on. A striking example- roulette in a casino. But playing in a casino is more profitable than buying lottery tickets.
Simplified, the lottery can be represented as the following picture. 3 people invest 10,000 rubles each and want to play the 30 thousand received among themselves. Winner takes all. To do this, they invite an independent point guard. For his services, he takes 15 thousand for himself. As a result, the “lucky” person will only get the remaining 15 thousand rubles. It's stupid, isn't it? But it is the role of such an intermediary, distributing winnings, that is performed by the lottery, represented by its organizers.
The only advantage is the accumulating jackpot, which can be carried over to the next drawing, gradually increasing in size. As a result, it can significantly exceed the amount of tickets sold in the circulation.
Types of lotteries
From all the variety of possibilities presented at common man could blow the roof off. There are 2 simple tips here:
- Play only domestic lotteries, so as not to go to another country to receive your winnings.
- Select only the most popular draws. Firstly, this is to talk about the honesty of the organizers. Secondly, they usually have a very substantial prize fund.
Conventionally, all lotteries can be divided into 2 categories:
Instant
The simplest ones. The result can be seen immediately after purchasing a ticket. Information about winning (or not winning) is already indicated on the ticket. Simply wipe off the protective layer. Small prizes, usually up to 3 - 5 thousand, can be obtained immediately without leaving the cash register - at the point of purchase. For large ones you need to contact the organizers. There is only one drawback - the possibility of manipulation of the prize fund by the organizer, namely large winnings. Winning tickets may simply not go on sale or may be available in smaller quantities.
There is another nuance. Organizers, when releasing tickets for sale, cannot accurately determine in advance what percentage of the circulation will be sold: 100, 50 or just 20%. And prize tickets for a certain amount must be printed in advance. There are, of course, certain data based on past sales statistics. But so that it doesn’t turn out that the prize fund in the circulation was 10 million, and only 2 million worth of tickets were sold and purchased winning tickets was 3 million, the organizers are hedging their bets by reducing the number and amount of winning tickets to a very modest figure.
Read - it's interesting :
- with the opportunity to play several games for free
The advantage is a fairly high probability of loss happy tickets. And although the size of such winnings is very small (usually 5-10 times the cost of the ticket), there are a lot of them.
circulation
More popular compared to instant ones. They, in turn, are divided into 2 types. Some already have a set of numbers printed on them. In others, the participant is given the right to choose his favorite combinations of numbers. And although the probability of winning in both cases is the same, it is the latter that is preferred by avid fans of practical jokes, when you can influence the results yourself (or so they think).
Chances of winning the lottery
Everyone who buys a coveted lottery ticket hopes to hit the jackpot. Well at least win a large sum money. What are the real chances of winning? What is the probability of winning the lottery?
If you take such popular lotteries as 5 out of 36 or 6 out of 45, then the probability of winning directly depends on the number of numbers in the draw. If the probability of matching just 2 numbers is 1 in 8 in the “5 out of 36” lottery, then to get the main prize you need to guess all 5 numbers. And here the probability of choosing the right combinations decreases by almost 50 thousand times and amounts to 1: 376,992.
The chances of winning in various lotteries depend on the number of numbers guessed and the range of numbers participating in the drawing. Increasing just one number for the main prize draw immediately reduces the probability of winning by tens of times.
An anecdote on topic.
Old Abram asked God every day in his prayers:
God! Help me win the lottery!
A month, a year, 10 years passed. And then one day, kneeling down to pray and asking for help, Abram heard the voice of God:
- Abram! Give me a chance! Buy a lottery ticket at least once!
Here's the math showing the odds of getting winning combinations for the most popular lotteries.
5 out of 36
6 out of 45
7 of 49
It turns out that greatest chance hit the jackpot in Gosloto “5 out of 36”, but the prize fund here is the lowest of the above. The probability of winning the “7 out of 49” lottery is 230 times less, but the prize fund is also more significant.
In order to understand which lottery is most profitable to play, you just need to calculate the probability of winning per invested ruble.
On this moment The following data is available:
We received the amount of winnings for each invested ruble. But the probability of hitting the jackpot is different for everyone. We need to equalize the chances of winning the main prize for all three lotteries. How to do it? Increase the amount of money invested in 2 other lotteries.
For example. If the chance of winning is 10% with a ticket price of 100 rubles, by spending 200 rubles and buying 2 tickets, we increase the probability of winning to 20%, with an investment of 300 rubles - up to 30%, and so on. Let's do the same with our examples.
The highest probability of winning in Gosloto 5 out of 36 is 1: 376,922. Accordingly, we need to increase investments in other lotteries by purchasing more tickets, thereby leveling the probability for all three draws.
The result was the following data:
The results were quite unexpected. With the same probability of winning, the most profitable lottery turned out to be 5 out of 36. The difference from the last one (7 out of 49) is almost 230 times.
How to win the lottery - 5 effective tricks
Hundreds of studies have been conducted on the topic of increasing the likelihood of winning the lottery. Throughout the history of the existence of this type of drawings, everyone, from ordinary players to scientists, has been trying to find a winning system that allows them to receive guaranteed money. Well, or at least significantly increase the chances of success. Thousands of different variations have been developed, from simple to the most complex, using the latest computer technology.
But as time has shown, it is impossible to create a profitable system. The chances of winning by choosing numbers using your own algorithms and those placed in random order are the same. And it doesn’t matter whether you bought a lottery ticket for the first time in your life or have been playing for 20 years, everyone has the same chances.
The probability of a person being hit by lightning is 1 in 600,000. This is tens of times lower than the probability of hitting the jackpot. But people play... and win!!!
However, do not rush to get upset. There are a number of techniques and tricks that allow you to gain some advantage over other players. We need to make a reservation right away. They will not affect the probability of winning in any way; they will not make it higher or lower. Everyone has the same chances. But you can achieve a significant increase in potential winnings for the same money spent.
When some people buy tickets for 100 rubles, hoping to win 5-10 thousand or even 30 million, with the same money you will be able to get amounts 2 - 10 - 50 times higher.
Game against everyone
On the ticket you need to choose the numbers that other participants use the least. The meaning of the strategy is that when winning combinations with popular numbers appear, the prize is divided between several participants. It could be 2, 100 or 1000 people. If a combination with unpopular numbers comes up, then a much smaller number of people will participate in the division. In some cases, the number of people winning can be reduced tens of times with one winning category. And it is better to divide the prize among 5 people than among 50 or even 100.
What numbers to choose? Let's go from the opposite. The range from 1 to 31 occurs 70% more often than others. This is due to the habit of people to associate everything with significant dates, first of all this is, of course, a birthday: 12 months in a year, 31 days in a month, year of birth - numbers from 0 to 10.
The numbers 6 and 13 are considered bad.
Even numbers are chosen less frequently than odd numbers.
Another pattern is that most people choose numbers that are not next to each other on the ticket: neither horizontally nor vertically. According to probability theory, all numbers have exactly the same chance of being drawn. Whether it’s 1,2,3 or 5, 15,27,31, the system doesn’t care.
Numbers from the first half of ten (21, 33, 14) are chosen a little more often than from the last half (28, 19, 29, 46).
By choosing unpopular numbers and combinations, you can increase the size of your potential winnings several times at once.
Increased main prize
Another way to increase your chances of winning is to not win the jackpot. The amount increases with each draw and, accordingly, the amount of winnings for each invested ruble becomes higher. Therefore, in such draws it is better to buy lottery tickets for a larger amount.
Example. Every week you participate in a drawing of 5,000 million rubles by buying one ticket for 100 rubles. For several months, the main prize was not won and amounted to 100,000 million rubles. Since the probability of winning in all draws is the same, but the winning amount has increased 20 times, it is more advisable to buy not one, but several tickets each draw.
It’s better not to buy tickets at all (and save money) until the prize fund increases several times. And at the moment of its strong increase, use the accumulated money to buy 10-20-30 tickets at a time. After the lucky one is decided, we go into “hibernation” again and save money until the right moment.
Distribution circulation
If during the year no one was able to win the main prize, then a distribution draw is held. This is required by law.
If the main winner is still undecided, then the entire jackpot is distributed among all participants who received any winning combinations in appropriate proportion. Conventionally, if the prize fund was 50 million and the main prize was 200,000 million, then real gain everyone grows 5 times at once.
Experienced players always participate in such circulations. After all, this real chance You get a lot more for the same money.
Same combination
Instead of constantly inventing new combinations of numbers with each new draw, you need to select the desired set for yourself in advance and use it in all future draws. And then all that remains is to wait for a happy occasion. Experienced players can also analyze the archive of past winnings and eliminate all previously repeated combinations. And from the remaining ones, choose the one you need. The probability of getting similar combinations a second time is very unlikely, especially those consisting of 5-6 digits.
Faith in luck
This is not a scientific method, rather a psychological one. But it’s not for nothing that they say: “Thoughts are material” or “To become a millionaire, you need to feel like a million.” There is an opinion that everything in the world is interconnected: thoughts, emotions, actions. And your behavior and attitude directly affect your life. There are many examples in life when a person’s desires or fears materialized. This is all very interestingly described in the film “The Secret”. For those who haven't seen it, I recommend watching it.
Therefore, when buying lottery tickets, you don’t need to say to yourself: “I’ll lose, it’s not scary, it’s not a big loss. The ticket costs only 100 rubles.” Think positively, sincerely believe in luck and you will be happy.
An anecdote on topic.
The teacher says: “Children, there is no God! Let's show him the sky!” All the children show, only Moishe is missing.
Teacher: “Moishe! Why don't you show it?
Moisha: “Marya Ivanovna! If there is no God, then who should we show it to? And if it exists…..why show it then?”
Tax on winnings
Few people think about taxes when buying lottery tickets. And by the way, timely payment is the responsibility of every citizen. At least that’s what is written in the Russian tax code. We will leave it up to the “lucky” ones who received the winnings to pay or not to pay. But it doesn’t hurt to know why and how much you need to pinch off from your winnings in favor of the state.
Absolutely all types of winnings are subject to taxation. But here they are divided into 2 types.
- Risk-based, betting and associated with direct costs to participants. We are talking here primarily about buying lottery tickets. All winnings received are taxed at a rate of 13%. And it doesn’t matter what amount you won: 100 million or 100 rubles.
- Incentive lotteries. These are sweepstakes related to the promotion of their products. Usually carried out in stores, hypermarkets and large companies, in order to attract new customers and increase their trust. The prizes are usually not money, but various gifts, trips and other goods. This whole thing is taxed at a rate of as much as 35% of the value of the winnings.
Winnings up to 4 thousand rubles are not subject to taxation. This amount also falls under the category of tax deductions and reduces the total amount of taxes. That is, for example, you won a phone for 10,000 rubles, then a tax of 35% must be paid not on the full amount, but on a reduced amount of 4 thousand. As a result, the tax will be 35% of 6,000 rubles - 2,100. And not 3,500 rubles.
How to pay tax?
There are only 2 options: lucky or unlucky.
Usually, lottery organizers are tax agents and themselves transfer the necessary amounts to the budget for you. You receive your winnings minus the withheld tax. In this case, you are lucky (if you did not want to pay taxes, then you are unlucky).
The second option is to pay money to the budget yourself. To do this, you need to fill out a declaration and submit it to tax office at your place of residence and, of course, transfer money to the budget.
Finally
Statistics say that everyone has an equal chance of winning. And influence the probability of falling out winning numbers impossible. The only leverage available to players is the ability to change the size of the potential winnings, when for the same money you can win much larger sums than other players.
This is especially true for regular players who regularly buy lottery tickets and have some statistics on winnings. Following simple tips will allow them to buy tickets to right time, in more profitable lotteries and profitable draws.
For example, if a player buys one ticket for 100 rubles every week over the course of a year, he wins a total of 3,000 rubles small winnings, then using the above tips, it is quite possible to increase the winning amount several times at similar costs.
The priority rules are the selection of lotteries and draws with biggest win for every ruble invested, or playing against the crowd, choosing the most unpopular combinations of numbers on the ticket.
Many people dream of getting a big fortune without any effort. Those who do not rely on themselves or at least on the inheritance of rich relatives are often ready to rely on fate. Let's say by participating in a lottery. Lotteries are especially popular in the United States of America. It's no coincidence that biggest lottery winnings were received in the USA. It is worth noting that the winners do not receive the entire winning amount. First of all, they have to decide whether they want to receive the money they win in relatively small annual payments or whether they prefer to take it in cash. In the second case, the prize amount is significantly reduced. In addition, winners are required to pay a 25 percent federal tax on their winnings.
Biggest lottery winnings
1. Biggest jackpot in its entire history ($390 million) was played in the American Mega Millions lottery on the night of March 7-8, 2007.
A few days before the draw, huge lines lined up across the country in front of machines selling lottery tickets. In one hour, more than 1 million tickets were sold in New York alone. The chance to win was 1 in 176 million, and two lucky winners took advantage of it - from the states of Georgia and New Jersey. Each received $190 million. The owners of one of the winning tickets were the spouses Harold and Elaine Messner from New Jersey, who bought it at a liquor store. The second winner, 52-year-old Georgia truck driver Ed Neighbors, purchased his ticket at a store in Dalton where he usually went to get a cup of coffee.
2. Jackpot of $365 million. was played on February 18, 2006. The tidy sum went to eight lucky winners from the American state of Nebraska.
Lincoln meatpacking plant workers decided play international lottery Powerball for fun. When they found out that they had won $365 million, they couldn't believe their luck. The winners recovered from shock for several days before appearing at the office of the lottery organizers. Two of them, 56-year-old Quang Dao and 34-year-old Dung Tran, are immigrants from Vietnam, and 26-year-old Alain Mabossou came to the United States from Central Africa.
True, the lucky ones received only $177 million, half of the winnings. After all, according to the rules of the lottery, the jackpot is in full is paid to the winner only in equal parts over 30 years. As often happens, colleagues decided not to wait for annual payments, but to take the prize in cash, losing part of the prize amount. Therefore, after paying all taxes, each of them received about 15.5 million dollars.
Quang Dao decided to send some of this money to his family in Vietnam, and Alain Mabossou planned to invest the money in his education.
3. The Big Game (currently Mega Millions) jackpot reached $363 million on May 9, 2000 - at that time this was a record figure not only for this game, but also for lotteries around the world.
Two Americans - from Illinois and Michigan - managed to hit the jackpot. As you might expect, both winners decided to take their winnings right away. After taxes, each lucky winner received $90.3 million.
One of the lucky ones was a certain Larry Ross from the town of Lansing. Moreover, as Larry himself admitted, he is not a fan of lotteries at all. I just decided one day to buy a hot dog for $2. I didn’t have any small money on me, and the seller didn’t have change for a hundred. Having quarreled a little, the man finally found a way out of the situation: he went and bought 98 lottery tickets.
After receiving his prize, Ross planned to quit his job, buy new cars for himself and his wife, and move to a safer area
4. Two married couples from Oregon became the owners of the fourth largest jackpot in the history of American lotteries. The $340 million was shared by Frances and Bob Chaney, their daughter Carolyn West and her husband Steve.
Steve West, who bought the ticket, put up his $20 and his family contributed the remaining $20. He also admitted later that everyone filled out the lottery ticket together.
The drawing took place on October 19. Just two days later, private entrepreneur Steve West called television and reported the win. After this, the lottery ticket was sent for examination, and on Tuesday, November 8, its authenticity was confirmed.
Frances Cheney said she was scared by one of the biggest winnings in American history. 72-year-old Bob did not share his wife’s fears and the first thing he did was buy a yellow Hummer.
5. In 2005, a $315 million prize went to seven employees of the Los Angeles clinic Kaiser Permanente. Some time before the prize was drawn, they bought 21 Mega Millions lottery tickets for everyone, agreeing to divide it among themselves if they won.
The American press called the newly made millionaires the “lucky seven,” because they did not want to disclose their names.
As per tradition, lottery winners decided to take the entire amount in cash. After paying all taxes, each of the clinic's employees received approximately $25 million.
It should be noted that before the prize was drawn, the odds of winning were estimated at 1 in 176 million.
6. The $314.9 million jackpot was hit at the end of December 2002, on Christmas Eve.
Lucky Jack Whittaker from West Virginia had no idea how his winnings would turn out for him.
59-year-old Jack was robbed twice and arrested twice - for hooliganism and for driving while intoxicated.
Further more. In the house of an unfortunate millionaire, the body of his granddaughter’s friend was found, who died of a drug overdose. And a couple of months later, for the same reason, the granddaughter herself died - at the age of 17 years. Finally, he was sued by the management of a casino in Atlantic City. Due to the fact that he allegedly owed the establishment $1.5 million, and the checks he issued for this amount turned out to be invalid...
The millionaire himself is no longer happy with his winnings. And his wife thinks that he should have just torn up that “lucky” ticket.
7. The winners of the 2007 Powerball lottery were a 65-year-old auto mechanic from Ohio named David Coterell, as well as his two adult children, who won $314.3 million.
46-year-old Lynn Hiles worked at the post office, but after receiving the prize money she decided to quit. Her brother, 42-year-old David Cauterel Jr., co-owns the parts plant.
The Cauterels chose to take their winnings in cash, although this greatly reduced the amount. After taxes, they received $145.9 million.
The owner of the store that sold prize ticket, received an incentive of one hundred thousand dollars.
The biggest win in Russia
And the biggest win in Russia was paid in March 2009 to a resident of St. Petersburg, Albert Begrakyan. He won the next edition of the All-Russian state lottery 100 million rubles. This is the largest win in the history of Russian lotteries. Albert came to Russia from Armenia in 2001 with his family: his wife and two daughters - 11 and 12 years old. At first he worked as a store security guard, later he opened a grocery store. In 2006, he became the owner of a car service center.
Interview with a newly made millionaire:
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