El Gordo de La Primitiva is one of Spain’s most popular lottery games, best known in lottery circles for its impressive jackpots and the extra Reintegro number which is essential to winning the El Gordo jackpot, determines the winners of secondary prize divisions and, when it is matched, allows for a refund of the ticket price.
El Gordo Lottery History
Spain’s love of lotteries dates back to 1763 when the country’s first royal lottery was initiated by King Charles III. The country’s national lottery debuted in 1812, and El Gordo de La Primitiva joined the official Spanish lottery organization (Loterías y Apuestas del Estado) almost 200 years later when the weekly lottery was added in 1993. Since then, the game colloquially known as “El Gordo” has hit record prizes including €33,024,545 (2011) , €27,152,932 (2008), and €26,214,521 (2007).
El Gordo Lottery Rules
Select 5 numbers from a guess range of 1-54 and an additional Reintegro number from a guess range of 0-9 from a different number matrix. The additional number is required to win the jackpot and applies to five secondary prizes (5+PB, 4+PB, 3+PB, 2+PB, and 0+PB). Players can select a form of 3 or 6 lines or enter the draw with a systematic form of 7, 8, 9, or 10 numbers. A systematic form produces all possible combinations of the selected numbers and increases players’ chances of winning a prize.
Players can choose numbers manually, have the numbers randomly selected by the system (Quick Pick), or draw the number selection from saved numbers on theLotter.com (My Lucky Numbers).
In the El Gordo drawing, the regular guess set and the Reintegro additional number are drawn from separate drums. As in the Spanish lottery BonoLoto and the La Primitiva lotto, matching the Reintegro in the El Gordo draw results in a refund of the ticket cost, less theLotter's service fee.
El Gordo Lottery takes place on Sunday at 12:00 GMT, 13:00 local time in Spain. Ticket sales close one hour before the draw, at 11:00 GMT, and lottery results are available on Monday mornings at 07:00 GMT on theLotter.com.
Winning El Gordo Lottery
El Gordo has nine prize categories, and players must successfully match the 5 numbers of the regular guess set and the additional Reintegro number to win the top prize. The lottery promises a starting jackpot of €5 million and enjoys frequent rollovers which build up to some if its biggest prizes such as the lottery’s record 2011 jackpot of €33,024,545.
As of 1st January 2013, Spanish lottery prizes that exceed €2,500 will be subject to a government legislated tax at a rate of 20%.
El Gordo Lotto Statistics
The state retains 45% of the profit generated by El Gordo, dedicates 45% to prize payment, and reserves 10% for reintegro prizes.