Lottery jackpot records

Lottery jackpot records have always attracted attention of lottery analysts and players. It is generally believed that Spanish Sorteo Extraordinario de Navidad is the world's largest lottery. However, as every number entered is printed on 170 tickets which are usually sold in fractions (usually tenths), the El Gordo prizes are usually split between multiple winners.

United States

In the United States, prizes in lotteries are taxable. Jackpot winners have the option to claim their prizes in lump sum or in an annuity. When a winner collects in lump sum, the winner receives the cash value of the advertised annuitized jackpot; the remainder of the prize represents the interest that would have been paid out had the winner chosen the annuity. In that case, the winner receives yearly payments, generally 20, 25, or 30. Jackpot winners almost always choose the lump sum, especially if the choice can be made after winning; initially, when cash options were implemented, the choice had to be made when playing, which is still the case in Texas.

Largest jackpots

Mega Millions is a lottery played in 12 U.S jurisdictions. Since it began as The Big Game in 1996 (it adopted its current name in 2002), it is known for its large jackpot prizes and long odds. On March 6, 2007, a Mega Millions jackpot worth $390 million was split by two tickets, one each from Georgia and New Jersey. To date, this is the largest recorded payout (of an annuity-based prize) in the world.

The largest Powerball jackpot was taken by eight co-workers from a Nebraska meat processing plant who jointly bought a single ticket that won them $365 million (annuity value) in the drawing held February 18, 2006.

Large lump sum payments

• Andrew J. Whittaker Jr. of West Virginia, won $314.9 million in the Powerball drawing of December 25, 2002. Opting as most large prize winners in the U.S. do for the lump sum, his after-tax prize was $114 million.
• Geraldine Williams from Lowell, Mass. is the largest single Mega Millions winner, at $294 million. The $168 million lump sum she opted for was reported as $117.6 million after taxes.
• Harold and Helen Lerner of New Jersey also claimed a higher after-tax lump sum than Whittaker in Mega Millions for the September 16, 2005 drawing, as New Jersey then had no state tax on lottery prizes. They chose to receive $156 million in cash instead of the $258 million face value. Then there is a 25 percent federal withholding tax, which left them with around $117 million.
• The October 19, 2005 Powerball drawing won by nine members of the West and Chaney families of Medford, Oregon was for a larger annuity ($340 million) but a smaller lump sum than Whittaker's.
• On February 22, 2008, Robert and Tayne Harris of Portal, Georgia claimed the only Mega Millions jackpot ticket, with an annuity value of $270 million (cash value $167 million) before taxes. After 25% percent federal withholding and 6% state withholding, they were left with around $115 million.

State lotteries

The record annuity-value prizes in the largest state lottery games in the United States have been:

• California: $193 million to three players February 16, 2002[1]
  • to single winner, $141 million to Alex Matulas on June 23, 2001[2]

• New York: $130 million in special Millennium Millions game November 4, 2000, shared by two winners
  • $100 million to Johnnie Ely in Millennium Millions of December 31, 1999

• Pennsylvania: $115.6 million shared among 14 winning tickets in April 1989, in Super 7 game later discontinued after a scandal; in subsequent Super 6 game $86,192,222.20 in December 1999, claimed by Shemonski family in March 2000

• Florida: $106.5 million to six tickets in September 1990

• Texas: estimated $145 million June 19, 2004

• Ohio: $75 million April 13, 2002.

The ratio between lump sum and annuity value varies over time with interest rates and possible alterations in the length of the period for which payments are made.

Europe

Unlike in the United States, where lottery wins are taxed, and the full winnings are paid by an annuity over a period of many years or a reduced lump-sum amount is offered, European jackpots are generally tax-free (the lotteries themselves are taxed in other ways) and the winning jackpot is paid out immediately in one lump sum.

• SuperEnalotto is Italy's largest lottery. On August 22, 2009, the jackpot was finally won. Since January 31, 2009, nobody had won the jackpot. The total prize money was € 147,807,299.08 for a player of Bagnone (Toscana). This is Europe’s biggest jackpot for a single winner.

• EuroMillions is a pan-European lottery, with odds of 1 in 76,275,360 and a minimum jackpot of €15 million ($21 million U.S. dollars).

Large lump sum payments

• In July 2005, housewife Dolores McNamara, a resident of Limerick, Ireland, won a tax-free lump sum of €115,436,126 when she hit a nine-week rollover jackpot.

• On February 3, 2006, EuroMillions had a prize of €183 million, which was shared between three winning tickets, two in France and one in Portugal, each winning €61,191,026.

• In May 2009, a 25-year-old woman from Mallorca, Spain won a EuroMillions jackpot of €126,231,764. The jackpot had accumulated after rolling over for 7 consecutive draws. It is rumoured that she was suffering from flu and was getting ready to go back into work before she found out about her winnings. She quit from her job within minutes of finding out.

• German National Lottery biggest lottery winning of €37,600,000 was taken on 7 October 2006.

• Largest UK prize was hit on 6 January 1996 and totaled at £42,000,000.

• The Irish National Lottery has a guaranteed jackpot of €2 million for each of its twice-weekly Lotto draws.

• The second largest ever jackpot of €18,963,441 was won on June 28, 2008 by a syndicate of sixteen work colleagues at a quarry and concrete plant in County Carlow.

• The EuroMillions jackpot of £91,141,671.00 was split into two prizes of £45,570,835.50 on November 6, 2009, one prize was won by a syndicate of seven work colleagues at an IT company in Liverpool, the other by a couple from South Wales.