Italian Lottery Fever: Jackpot Approaches $177 Million

ABC's Clark Bentson reports from Rome:

There is no bigger lottery jackpot in the world right now. It is approaching the biggest jackpot ever! Three times a week – Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – cigarette shops, betting shops, cafes and any where else that sells lottery tickets are packed with people hoping that they will be the lucky winner. This Saturday’s prize is $176,648,905.22 at today’s exchange rate.

No one has won the lottery here since January, and as the pot grows after each draw so do the number of people playing. One Italian institute that monitors social trends said that in June Italians were spending $11.2 million a day on “SuperEnalotto” tickets.

The urge to gamble has increased so much that betting shops are now taking bets on when someone will win the lottery. The last time the jackpot reached such a record high was in October 2008 where a lucky winner from Sicily took home around $140 million.

Many here complain that the astounding sizes of the jackpots have created an unhealthy temptation to gamble in a country where unemployment and slow growth have hit the country hard.

Others see it as a hidden tax that benefits the government since the Italian State  takes just shy of fifty percent of the proceeds. In a country notorious for finding ways to avoid paying their taxes, this is a windfall for the state treasury. According the state news agency, ANSA, the Italian government took in a whopping $2.4 billion in the first seven months of this year alone.

To win, a player must choose 6 numbers between one and ninety. The game also awards more than a million dollars for just five correct numbers, but that is less than 1% of the grand prize total if you pick all six.

Unlike in the United States where winners receive their cash over a period of years, the Italian prize is paid out in one lump sum, usually two months or so after the winner produces the golden ticket. And, from the day the ticket is produced, interest is also paid to the winner on the proceedings until the cash is in hand.

But the biggest difference between lottery winnings here and in the United States is that they are tax free. If you hold the correct six numbers all of the money goes to you!

Not only Italians are playing. Foreigners are crossing the border from the north to play. Town councils are diverting some funds to buy tickets. People who are opposed to gambling have even been tempted to try to their luck. Even while most Italians have vacated their cities for the August holiday, there has been no vacation from the frenzy of buying tickets.