The Biggest Lottery Wins of All Time

The human race has always been fond of a lottery, it seems. The first-ever record of a lottery being drawn dates back to the Han Dynasty in China, which ruled from 205 to 187 BC. There were also lotteries in Europe during the Roman Empire, with the first lotteries offering cash as a prize taking place in the Low Countries of Europe during the 15th century.

The chance to win a big prize for a relatively small outlay is obviously appealing. There are lotteries on all continents now with rollovers in some of the biggest markets, sending the prize pool into the billions. There is even the chance to take a punt on the numbers drawn in lotteries at some of the Las Vegas sportsbooks these days.

The US has enjoyed the biggest wins in modern history, with the sheer size of the country – and willing participants – helping boost the potential prize pool and jackpot. But there are other famous lotteries around the world that provide punters with the dreams of winning big and changing their lives entirely.

The largest-ever jackpot for a single win on a lottery happened in November 2022. The Powerball lottery, with tickets sold in 46 states, offered a prize of $2.04 billion. The solo winner from California was able to claim a lump sum cash payout of $997.6 million after matching the five numbers plus the Powerball. The delayed draw saw 22 other people claim a cool million for matching just the five numbers. There was one other millionaire made that day as well though. The owner of the gas station in Los Angeles who sold the lucky ticket was also given a prize – one that he said he was going to share with family and friends.

Six years earlier the first ever Powerball six-ball combination offering over $1 billion was won. That time the $1.58 billion prize was split three ways between winners in Florida, Tennessee, and California again. There have also been other instances of jackpots in both the Powerball and Mega Millions of $1.6 and $1.7 billion going to just one lucky winner. Although all these winnings are obviously astronomically high, it must be remembered that federal taxes must be paid on all winnings on US lotteries. Those ticket holders would probably have still taken home a nice enough sum, however!

The largest European lottery win was recorded in February of last year. The Super Enalotto in Italy paid out an incredible €371.1 million, which was lowered to just under €300 million after tax. As with many lotteries around the world, syndicates and groups of friends are allowed to pool their resources for a supposed better chance of winning and this jackpot prize was eventually split between 90 different people.

The biggest single winner of a European lottery came a year earlier when a British player won the Euro Millions. The €230 million cash prize worked out to around £195 million in the winner’s home currency. For a point of comparison for American readers, that’s roughly $255 million – quite a way off that billion-dollar Powerball win.

The Euro Millions lottery is one of the biggest on that continent, with a prize pool boosted by participants in nine separate countries all putting their faith in their lucky numbers. The biggest payouts have fairly regularly topped the €100 million mark with the top prize being awarded to just one person. There was one instance, in 2010, when half the jackpot was kept back though. Two friends in the UK shared one of the winning tickets but the other, bought by an unknown person in Spain, was never claimed. We can only imagine why the mystery lottery winner never came forward.

Even though the US Powerball and Mega Millions have paid out the biggest lottery jackpots in history, neither of them is considered the biggest lottery in the world. That esteemed title can be attributed to Spain’s “El Gordo”, considered the world’s largest lottery. Although the main prize is not as big as its American counterparts, there are usually more individual winners taking their share of a $2.2 billion prize pool.

The prospect of winning hundreds of millions of dollars – or even billions! – is an obvious draw for many people. But there are all kinds of lotteries to choose from in many regions and countries. Sometimes these will have much smaller jackpots but with the potential for more winners. Even the promise of fewer participants is attractive to some people, as there is the feeling that there is more chance of winning in a small pool.

Lottery companies also regularly rearrange their formulas and prize amounts to keep things fresh. For many participants, buying a lottery ticket each week is a tradition that cannot be missed. Superstition obviously plays a part in this and that allows the operators to change formats without the risk of putting off their regular customers.

As we have seen, lotteries have been around for thousands of years in some shape or other and there seems to be no end to the general public’s appetite for buying tickets. When there is the chance to win millions for a small outlay, that is perfectly understandable. As the slogan for the UK lottery says, “It could be you”!