Spain hands out $3B in planet’s biggest lottery

Associated Press ^ | Dec 22, 2014 4:03 PM EST | Alan Clendenning

[Olog-hai]

Spaniards and Latin American immigrants who bought lottery tickets in an upper middle class Madrid neighborhood hit the jackpot on Monday, cracking open bottles of champagne on the streets as they celebrated winning €400,000 ($490,000) payoffs from a €2.5 billion ($3 billion) pot of cash divided among thousands of ticketholders.

More than 100 of the top winning tickets were sold in the downtown neighborhood, though 20 were also purchased in the southern city of Cádiz and a handful were sold in other cities across the nation. …

[Kackikat]

I thought Spain was like Greece, so how do they get $3 BILLION to give away?

[GeronL]

good question

[proxy_user]

By selling lottery tickets, that’s how. They don’t pay out all of what they take in, either.

[Kackikat]

I thought those people were broke, no money...of course everyone buys lottery tickets except me, money or no money...lol I just believe there is ‘no pie in the sky’, and my dollars add up elsewhere.

[dhs12345]

“the lottery is a tax on people who can’t do math.”

[chud]

Now that those people got €400,000 ($490,000) payouts, watch their mindset change.
All of a sudden they're going to realize that the tax rate is too damn high, and that they're having to pay to support freeloaders who live on the gov't dole.

[Jonty30]

My understanding is that there are no huge prizes in this lottery, just a lot of small prizes.

[Former Fetus]

It depends on how much you bet. The big one earns you 20 euros for each euro you bet. In addition there are lots of smaller prices. Every year my dad sends me a “share” on the “tenth” of a number that he plays. I know it is crazy, but that’s the traditional Spanish lottery. BTW, I just checked the results, my dad gets his money back. I won’t see a penny!

[Kackikat]

Spain has been in dire financial trouble since the Greece issue, and Portugal for awhile too. The understanding was there weren’t enough rich people to even tax heavily, but if they sold tickets I guess that would give them enough money to give out for prizes...I don’t really see how that helps the country.