Public Gaming Magazine January/February 2016

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58 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // January/February 2016
O n December 22, the 1,500
residents of the small town of
Laugar de Andaraz won the Christ-
mas Lottery, otherwise known as El
Gordo, the Big One. Really big. In
fact, at €2.24 billion ($2.43 billion)
for this one single draw, The Spanish
Christmas Lottery is the biggest prize
pool in the world. Students at Laujar’s
Emilio Manzano secondary school
had resold 784 winning ticket shares,
each paying € 400,000, in Laujar
and other communities throughout
te sparsely populated Sierra Nevada
región of southern Spain. Residents
of Laujar itself, which has an annual
municipal budget of € 1 million, won
around € 250 million.
Spaniards love their Lottery,
spending close to 1% of gross domes-
tic product on lotteries. Spanish lot-
teries have distinctive structures that
make them as much social events as
games of chance. For instance, a full
El Gordo ticket cost €200, and paid
€4 million. The fact that not many in-
dividuals are able or willing to spend
€200 for a single lottery ticket creates
a special and unique foundation for
social bonding. It is true that a player
could purchase a 10th of a ticket,
known as a décimo, which cost €20
and paid €400,000. But the end re-
sult of this structure is that families,
co-workers, and communities bond
together to buy their tickets, and
share in the prize winnings. As is the
case in the winning town of Laujar,
the whole game is typically a com-
munity affair with everyone being
involved, including school-children
who sell the tickets. The high price
of the tickets, the promotional mes-
saging of the games, and the natuiral
sociability of people encourages this
form of “social gaming.” The Spanish
Christmas Lottery creates more win-
ners than any other lottery, including
hundreds of new millionaires, so that
gives everyone something exciting to
talk about!
The Spanish Christmas Lottery—
Loteria de Navidad is the focus of
countless commercials, news reports,
and stories in the months leading up
to the draw. With an estimated 90%
of Spanish adults entering the annual
draw, millions tune in to watch the
students of the San Ildefonso School
sing out the winning numbers in
the Loteria Nacional hall in Madrid.
With 15,304 ways to win on every
ticket, the festive event usually lasts
three hours and continues until the
entire prize pool has been won.
View one of the TV commercials
that expresses the spirit of The Span-
ish Christmas Lottery: http://www.
tery-christmas-ad-captures-spirit-sea-
son/1374357 ■
THE AMAZING SPANISH CHRISTMAS LOTTERY:
Sharing the Wealth
(Top to Bottom)
Photo 1 & 2: School Children
as the Best Ambassadors for the
Christmas Lottery
Photo 3: Christmas Lottery Draw:
A Festival that Engages an
Entire Country
Photo 4: An Enthusiastic Press
Covering the Christmas Lottery Draw