The Biggest Online Lotto Winners
Playing lotteries online has grown extremely popular amongst players in recent years as players now have access to lotteries from all over the world regardless of where they live. That means you no longer need to live in the US to enter the huge Mega Millions or USA Powerball draws, and don’t have to travel all the way to Europe to enter EuroMillions or Eurojackpot. Instead all you need to do now is go on the internet from your phone or computer and you can easily buy tickets online.
The rise in popularity of playing world lotteries from your own home as also resulted in some huge jackpots being won online, in both South African lotteries and those in Europe and the USA. Check out the winning stories below for some huge online lottery wins.
South Africa
A Kuwaiti player, entering only his fifth draw online, walked away with a share of the Daily Lotto Jackpot on 7 July 2019 and found himself R118,865.50 richer overnight. When contacted about his win, the anonymous player said "I didn’t expect that! I’m so excited, I don’t know what to do!". At the time of winning the player was looking for a loan to help finance his wedding, but said the jackpot win would now mean he can pay everything off straight up and just look forward to enjoying the day.
This online jackpot win was the first of its kind in the short history of Daily Lotto after the first draw took place in March 2019. Whilst there have been many jackpot wins from players buying a ticket from a retailer in South Africa, this win set a precedent that anyone can enter Daily Lotto online and win the jackpot amount.
Europe
Christina, after winning €90 million on the 1 June 2018 Eurojackpot draw, is the record holder for the world’s largest online gaming win ever. Working as a cleaner in Berlin, Christina bet on Eurojackpot online via a mobile app and discovered she was a winner whilst working a late-night shift. After quitting on the spot, Christina said “I’m still in shock, to be honest! It’s a lot to take in, but I’m so happy to finally be able to look after my mum and the rest of my family.”
Because Christina had played online, she was automatically contacted to be told that she had won the massive amount. She also checked the results herself to make sure she wasn’t being tricked, but after confirming the win she was able to arrange for the winnings to be paid straight into her bank account.
Valentin became one of the biggest online lottery winners in the UK when he won €248,000 via placing a bet on EuroMillions online. The win was one of the biggest of its kind in 2017 and Valentin said “This will completely change my life. I love my job and have no intention of changing what I do, but this is completely life-changing for me and my family”.
Valentin was also quick to admit that he did think it was a shame he was only one number away from winning €25 million, but this win was still a huge shock. By playing online Valentin was able to quickly enter the draw via his mobile phone, rather than having to travel to a retailer to buy a ticket, and then all winnings were arranged to be paid straight into his bank account.
Mr Logan became the biggest Irish Lotto winner to come from the UK when he won over £5 million on the draw on 21 August 2019. The former motor trade worker said “I was at a fair when I found out the news, it didn’t sink in for a while and I am still reeling from the shock – it feels very surreal but I’m hoping to retire with the money and enjoy my newfound wealth.”
Mr Logan normally would not have been able to enter the Irish Lotto, but because he was able to buy his ticket online, he can now look forward to an early retirement, with all the lottery winnings paid straight into his bank account.
USA
An Iraqi resident became arguably the first big winner in the history of lottery concierge services when he won $6.4 million playing the Oregon Megabucks lottery online. The winner, who chose to stay anonymous, got the call whilst he was driving and said “…I was in shock! I suspected I’d won something, but had no idea it was the jackpot”.
The winner was flown to Oregon to claim his winnings in person and took the $6.4 million paid via annual instalments of $158,720 into his bank account.
Mrs Aura D became one of the biggest online lottery winners of all time when she won $30 million playing the Flordia Lotto online from her home country of Panama. Mrs Aura D said she had only known work her whole life and has been praying to god for some kind of intervention that could see her stop working. The seven numbers she chose to play have some meaning to the rest of her family, and now those numbers mean she will never need to work again.
Playing online also means you can subscribe to certain draws and will be entered automatically so you never miss out. Mrs D had been playing the Flordia lotto via subscription, and the winning draw was the final one she had entered before her subscription ran out!