eLottery Blog

In the country of Spain, lotto involvement is very common and as is the nature of a lot of E U countries, lotto is a way of life. It is traditional for residents to participate regularly and certainly “La Primitiva,” (Often called - el gordo de la primitiva) the state organized competition is a major centre of attention twice a week.

When it comes to the granddaddy of them all, nonetheless, El Gordo - also recognized as the Christmas “fat one” is too amazing to grasp. It’s the most common drawing of the year by far and sees the start of the festive season in no uncertain terms. It’s supposed that King Carlos 111 presented this contest back in 1763, as he wished his citizens to have a better way of life.

The el gordo primitiva Christmas lottery is the largest world-wide with a total prize fund payout somewhere near 2 billion Euros, with an enormous first jackpot prize which, because of the nature of the competition, is automatically divided among various identical winning lottery tickets. So many individuals wish to enter the El Gordo lottery, that it is reckoned to be as much as 97% of the population, which the actual set of lottery numbers is sold multiple times. You can buy a full ticket for 200 as a “billette”, or a 10th of a ticket, otherwise known as “decimos.”

El Gordo is very much different from every other competition on the planet, as many players of the gordo loteria do not bet for the rest of that year. As such, it can be seen as a significant tradition, instead of just a lottery contest.

Tradition is just about everything when playing the El Gordo lotto, as the lottery is administered identically every year. Plus, the winning numbers and the corresponding prizes are sung in public by Scholars at the San Ildefenso School. State television and radio pay particular attention to this event; on the morning of December 22 each year at about 3 hours before the drawing itself takes place. There are an enormous number of prizes and the drawing procedure is rather technical. Traditionally, winners frequently donate a percentage of the money to school children.

El Gordo lottery is especially popular as you have a very good chance of acquiring a prize. You must not forget that the actual occasion itself is recognized as the Christmas lottery, whereas the title of El Gordo is held for the actual 1st prize. As the potential rewards are so high, it’s common for people to join together to boost their chances of winning. These El Gordo syndicate groups are another way of celebrating tradition at this joyful time of the year by bringing friends and acquaintances together.

The El Gordo lottery should not be confused with the weekly drawing also run by the Spanish administration and otherwise best-known as La Primitiva or primitiva el gordo. The said title is often used to refer to both of them, though passionate Spanish citizens are fully aware of the difference between them. As is common in state lotto’s, profits are tax-exempt.

The El Gordo should not be confused with the weekly drawing also run by the Spanish organization and otherwise best-known as La Primitiva or primitiva el gordo. The same title is frequently used to relate to both of them.

The El Gordo (The Fat One) Christmas lottery is the most time-honoured lotto draw in Spain with the large percentage of the country’s inhabitants taking part.  In fact, this draw has become a national pastime with 98% of Spain’s inhabitants taking part.  This is not really unexpected when you find out that the El Gordo is the largest prize fund lottery game globally.

The typical Spanish resident spends roughly €73 in the Christmas draw and in 2008 the prize fund is estimated to top a staggering €2.20 billion.  Here are a number of major features of the El Gordo lottery:

·    More than 13,000 prizes are paid out.
·    It is operated by the Spanish Government.
·    There is an excellent 1 in 6 chance of grabbing a cash prize.
·    All prizes are paid out at once and are tax exempt for Spain’s residents.
·    70% of the revenue generated by ticket sales are paid out in cash prizes.

Since way back in December 1812 the Christmas lottery has operated in precisely the same manner year on year.  Two huge sphere-shaped vessels are used; one of them contains tens of thousands of small wooden balls representing all ticket numbers; the other one contains a smaller amount of wooden balls representing the prizes to be drawn. In the Lotería Nacional hall in Madrid, students of the San Ildefonso School (formerly reserved for orphans of public servants) draw the numbers and corresponding prizes, singing the results audibly in front of the public while Spanish radio and television stations transmit the occasion.

Owing to the considerable amount of numbers and prizes, this procedure takes about 3 hours to complete.  In recent years, over 4,800 individual numbers have collected no less than €1,000 per billete (€100 per décimo) in the Christmas draw.  Those individuals who are not fortunate enough to win a cash prize frequently come out with the predictable comment that “it’s health that really matters”. Participants who only get their money back will frequently re-invest the prize in a ticket for El Niño, the second most influential draw, held on the 6th of January each year.

The two container routine is the time-honoured way of drawing the numbers in Spanish lotteries but this method is now set aside only for the celebrated Christmas lottery draw.  The rest of the weekly and 5 other yearly El Gordo draws operate using five vessels with 10 balls in each, from where the winning numbers are selected.

Lottery retailers in Spain mostly only sell tickets for one or two numbers, so the winners of the biggest prizes frequently reside in the same town or district or work for the same company.  In 2005, the winning number was sold in the town of Vic in Catalonia (population 37,825), whose inhabitants scooped in the region of €500 million.

For many years, you could only take part in the El Gordo lottery if you were a Spanish citizen.  However, with the introduction of lottery ticket sales agents you now have the chance to take part in this internationally renowned Spanish national lottery regardless of where you reside in the world.  Some worldwide El Gordo syndicates have also been established to not only allow more people access to this lotto but to boost their odds of winning cash prizes as well.

At some stage in December 2008 eLottery will be adding the El Gordo to its product range giving participants worldwide a much greater probability of receiving a share in this enormous Spanish lottery prize fund.

If this is the first time you have heard about the El Gordo lottery, let me point out just how important this lottery is to the vast majority of the Spanish population.  The El Gordo lottery has been a national obsession in Spain since 1812 with huge interest generated by the Christmas draw each year.  Believe it or not, 98% of the population play this Spanish National lottery each Christmas.

There are several underlying reasons why so many Spanish people play a part in the Christmas El Gordo draw.  Firstly, there is the incentive of the largest lotto prize fund of any international lottery - 2.20 Billion Euros!  Secondly, there are in excess of 13,000 cash prizes available.  Lastly, the likelihood of winning a cash prize in the Christmas game are a very generous 1 in 6.

With the level of attention that is paid to the Christmas El Gordo lottery draw, many people are unaware that there are 5 additional El Gordo draws every year as well.  These take place in January, March, May, July and November.  Even though these 5 draws do not have the massive prize fund of the Christmas game, they are substantial nonetheless, ranging from 78 million Euros to 655 million Euros.  In addition, these games offer roughly three times as many prizes as the Christmas draw and odds of picking up a cash prize of an amazing 1 in 3.

The Spanish Christmas Lottery works differently to the majority of other lottery games. A whole ticket ‘billete’ is very pricey, costing 200 Euros.  However, these tickets are divided up into ten ‘decimos’ (tenths) each costing 20 Euros.  When buying your tickets you have the choice of buying a single decimo, a complete ticket, or a share of a ticket.  If you don’t acquire the entire ticket, someone else will purchase the remainder of your ticket.  For example, if you obtain two decimos, someone else purchases three and someone else buys five and your ticket scoops 1000 Euros, then you will win 200 Euros, 300 Euros and 500 Euros correspondingly.  Owing to the price tag of buying an entire ticket, it is typical for families and friends to combine their lottery cash and each purchase a single ‘decimo’ (tenth).

The chances of winning a cash prize in the El Gordo lottery are tremendous but if you choose to play as a member of one of e-Lottery’s El Gordo syndicates you will hold a 20 times better prospect of sharing cash prizes in each draw.

Unveil the full benefits of playing the El Gordo as a member of an e-Lottery syndicate and revel in the excitement of this mammoth Spanish National lottery.

Coming Soon And Only Weeks Away!
The ElGordo e-lottery From VWD.