Italy Races for Lotto Jackpot Record

Italy's state lottery reached a record jackpot of 115.9 million Euros ($167 million) this week, prompting locals to race out and buy tickets before Tuesday's draw.

No one has bet on the successful six-number combination of the SuperEnalotte draw since January, meaning the jackpot has steadily risen to reach the current mark.

The lottery, which is held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, rose from a jackpot of 107 million Euros one week ago to the current mark of 115.9 million Euros.

Of course, the jackpot won't necessarily go to one person, as it will be split if more than one players bets on the correct numbers.

Previous lotto record
Italy's largest single lottery prize up until now was the 100.7 million Euros won in the Sicilian city of Catania in October 2008.

A recent study by the Censis social studies institute found that the amount spent on SuperEnalotto has risen steadily since the beginning of 2009, with Italians purchasing an average of 7.8 million Euros worth of tickets each day.

SuperEnalotto began in December 1997, and has been of great value to the state, which has received almost 50% of all bets made, a far higher amount than that received from other national betting games. The game brought in more than 1.7 billion Euros in total in the first seven months of 2009, translating to around 850 million Euros in government coffers, or an increase of around 70 percent on the 500 million Euros it received in all of 2008.

More Italian online gambling on Online Casino Reports Italy.