A resident of the castle-topped Tuscan village of Bagnone won more than 147 million euros ($210.6 million) in Europe’s biggest lottery jackpot, and seemed intent on trying to stay unknown.
The winner bought the ticket for 2 euros at a bar in the central Italian town of 2,000, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Florence. The lucky inhabitant, who has yet to come forward, can choose to remain anonymous and has 90 days to claim the cash. Local residents popped bottles of sparkling wine at the bar on Aug. 22 to celebrate the fortune of the winner in their midst. That person may be a 47 year-old local man, the ANSA news agency reported yesterday.
“I hope the winner knows how lucky he is and knows how to handle such an event,” said the town’s mayor, Gianfranco Lazzeroni, in an interview with SkyTG24 television. “This is an opportunity to raise the visibility of this small corner of Italy.”
The draw, broadcast live on RAI state television two days ago, showed the winning numbers to be 10-11-27-45-79-88. It was the first time since Jan. 31 that someone had picked the right combination from the 90 possible numbers in play. The odds of selecting the numbers were 622 million to one, Agence France- Presse reported. The jackpot is tax-free.
Lottery fever has been on the rise in Italy, with more than 400 million euros spent on tickets in July and 300 million euros so far in August, according to Sisal SpA, the lottery company.
The biggest winner may be the Italian government, which takes about half the revenue from ticket sales, though not everyone is excited about the lottery frenzy. Roman Catholic Church officials have denounced the game, with Bishop Domenico Sigalini saying it was “immoral” for the government to encourage it.
Italy’s SuperEnalotto debuted in 1997. Its previous biggest jackpot was 100 million euros, won last year by the unidentified holder of a ticket purchased in the Sicilian city of Catania. The new jackpot will start at 38 million euros.
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