What Should I Know About the Spanish El Gordo?
The world’s biggest – and most popular – lottery event is fast approaching.
El Gordo, The Spanish Christmas Lottery, is a one-day lottery event where billions are handed out in prizes!
Here are 7 incredible things you need to know about El Gordo, the Spanish Christmas Lottery:
1. The Biggest Lottery Event in the World
Spain’s legendary El Gordo roughly translates to “the big one” or “the fat one” – in reference to its enormous prize pool. Every year, El Gordo pays out billions in prizes and for 2018 the total estimated prize pool is a mighty €2.3 BILLION!
2. World’s Best Odds of Winning
Another distinguishing feature of El Gordo are its attractive odds of winning. Players have a 1 in 100,000 chance of winning the top prize, worth €4 million! Not to mention, the overall odds of winning a prize are just as impressive, at 1 in 6.5.
3. Prizes, Prizes and More Prizes
There’s a reason why more than 90% of the Spanish population play El Gordo annually and we can sum it up in three words: lots of prizes. With around 17 prize categories, there are more than 14,000 cash prizes handed out each year for every series of 100,000 numbers!
4. Cherished Christmas Tradition
As it’s drawn every year on December 22nd, El Gordo is also known as the Spanish Christmas Lottery or Loteria de Navidad. It’s a long held tradition in Spain, dating back all the way to 1812 when the first draw took place. Fun fact: the winning numbers are announced to the public by students from the San Ildefonso School, who sing the results out loud as the numbers are drawn!
5. Statistically Superior
Compare El Gordo with the usual lotteries out there and you’ll realize that statistically, El Gordo has them all beat. For instance, it is 450 times easier to win the top prize in El Gordo than the British Lotto 6/59.
6. Only 100,000 Ticket Numbers are Issued
The Spanish Christmas Lottery works like this: there are 100,000 ticket numbers printed each year, with 5-digit numbers between 00000-99999. Each ticket is printed multiple times in their own series, due to the game’s popularity. Each ticket is then divided into 10 parts called Decimas– which can be bought individually. (If you own all 10 decimas of a 1st place winning ticket, you’ll win the €4 million top prize.)