Lotto: 35 highlights from 35 years of Lotto
"6 out of 45" is celebrating its birthday this Sunday – a time to look back on many milestones and curiosities from years past.
With next Sunday's draw, hosted by Ralph Huber-Blechinger, Austrian Lotteries will celebrate 35 years of "6 out of 45" Lotto. The first Lotto draw took place on Sunday, September 7, 1986, and it was followed by another 3,085 draws so far. In the process, six correct numbers were picked 3,125 times, and 1,071 lucky players won prizes of a million euros or more. The most frequently drawn number was 3, which rolled out of the machine 456 times, while the rarest number was 2, being drawn only 367 times.
With the introduction of Lotto and the founding of Austrian Lotteries that preceded it, the promotion of sports in Austria was also newly regulated. Currently, at least 80 million euros from Austrian Lotteries' tax revenue goes to promoting sports in Austria every year. This means that, in a way, every Lotto player contributed to the Austrian athletes' recent successes at the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo.
Thanks to the successful introduction of Lotto and subsequently many other games, Austrian Lotteries became one of the country's largest taxpayers, with an annual tax revenue of 466 million euros at last count.
The 35 most popular, exciting or unusual rounds were the following (in chronological order):
- The first time all six numbers were picked correctly...
... happened in the very first round. A player from Styria was the only one to pick the six correct numbers (1, 20, 22, 24, 27 and 40) and won 6,542,159 shillings (475,437 euros). - The first jackpot...
... happened on Sunday, October 19, 1986. Three players hit the jackpot, and they each won around 8.1 million shillings (617,000 euros). - The first Euro millionaires...
... were a player from Vienna and a player from Lower Austria (without even knowing it at the time, since the Euro hadn't been introduced). They hit the jackpot on November 16, 1986 and won 13,836,098 shillings each. - Picking six correct numbers and the bonus number on a lottery ticket...
... was first achieved by a player from Vienna, on Sunday, June 28, 1987. This was possible on a system ticket. To date, this feat has been repeated by another 22 players. - The first double jackpot...
... happened on Sunday, August 9, 1987. Three players hit the jackpot the following Sunday, with each winning about 15.7 million shillings (1.14 million euros). - The round with the most six correct numbers being picked...
... took place on Sunday, May 21, 1989. No less than 23 participants picked the six correct numbers (2, 14, 16, 26, 28 and 40 – only even numbers) and received 510,218 shillings (37,079 euros) each. It was also the lowest prize won for picking six correct numbers. - The first triple jackpot...
... happened on Sunday, January 13, 1991. Six players hit the jackpot the following Sunday, with each winning about 16 million shillings (1.16 million euros). - The round with the absolutely most numbers being picked...
... took place on Sunday, January 20, 1991. It was the first triple jackpot, for which over 52.5 million number picks (on 5.6 million lottery tickets) were submitted. - The round with the most lottery tickets...
... was the one on Sunday, January 26, 1992. It was a triple jackpot, for which around 5.8 million lottery tickets (with 46.1 million numbers picked) were submitted. - The most millionaires (in Euro) in one draw...
... were created on January 26, 1992: seven players hit the triple jackpot and won 15.147 million shillings (over 1.1 million euros) each. - The 1,000th time six numbers were picked correctly...
... is not entirely clear. On April 28, 1996, a player from Upper Austria and a player from Carinthia each picked six correct numbers, making them the 999th and 1,000th person to do so. - Two times six correct numbers were picked on one normal lottery ticket...
... that was submitted by a woman from Vorarlberg on Sunday, June 9, 1996. She deliberately selected the same numbers twice and won 3.3 million shillings twice. Six correct numbers had been picked four times during this round. - The first lotto draw on a Wednesday...
... took place on September 3, 1997. Nobody managed to pick six correct numbers, and so the round ended with a jackpot. - The round with the most number picks since the introduction of the second draw...
... was the one on Wednesday, December 13, 2000. It was a triple jackpot, for which over 36.7 million number picks (on 4.6 million lottery tickets) were submitted. - The first time a smartphone could be used to play the Lotto...
... was on January 25, 2001, and was made possible thanks to a cooperation with (at that time) max.mobil, as long as one had a WAP-capable mobile phone. A European first! - The first time Lotto could be played via the Internet...
... was on Monday, September 17, 2001, on the WebClub.at website, the predecessor of the current win2day website. - The 1,000th draw...
... took place on Wednesday, October 10, 2001. For the second time in a row, nobody got six correct picks, so the draw resulted in a double jackpot. - The first time six correct numbers were picked via smartphone...
... was on Sunday, December 2, 2001. A max.mobil customer won 14.5 million shillings (just under 1.1 million euros). - The first time six correct numbers were picked via the website...
... was on Sunday, December 15, 2002. Back then, Win2day was still called WebClub, and that first win via the Internet brought in around 530,000 euros. - The only round in which five correct numbers with a bonus number resulted in a higher prize...
... than the six correct numbers was on Sunday, September 14, 2003, with the "Porsche numbers": a 9 in combination with five other numbers (11, 14, 24, 28 and 44) resulting in the Porsche model numbers. This resulted in 14 times six correct picks at around €63,000 each, but only two times five correct picks with the bonus number 4 at over €84,000 each. - The 2,000th time six numbers were picked correctly...
... is also unclear. On January 2, 2005, a player from Vienna and a player from Vorarlberg each picked six correct numbers, and they were the 2,000th and 2,001st to do so. - The first quadruple jackpot...
... took place on Wednesday, June 22, 2005. The following Sunday, three players managed to hit the quadruple jackpot and win around 3 million euros each. - The round with the highest coverage...
... took place on Sunday, June 26, 2005. In the first quadruple jackpot, 93 percent of all possible pick combinations were actually played (7,570,053 out of 8,145,060). - The first five-fold jackpot...
... happened on Sunday, May 25, 2008. The following Sunday, two players managed to hit the five-fold jackpot and win over 4,9 million euros each. - The second winner in the same family...
... was a woman from Carinthia who, on January 16, 2008, picked six correct numbers, winning around 1.7 million euros solo. Her husband had won the big prize in 1999, bringing in the equivalent of around 1 million euros at that time. - The 2,000th draw...
... was held on Wednesday, May 11, 2011. It was also the 2,500th time six correct numbers had been picked in Lotto history – a 2 million euro solo win after a jackpot. - The first draw outside the ORF studios on the Küniglberg...
... was the Lotto's 25th anniversary draw on Wednesday, September 7, 2011. It took place in Austrian Lotteries' Studio 44. - The first LottoPlus draw...
... took place on Wednesday, October 4, 2017. With LottoPlus, Lotto tickets take part in a second draw as part of the regular "6 out of 45" draw. - The first six-fold jackpot...
... took place on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 and was broadcast on Christmas Eve. A player from Lower Austria and a player from Vienna won 6.1 million euros each. - The 1,000th millionaire created by an Austrian Lotteries betting game...
... had his lucky day on Sunday, March 25, 2018. A player from Upper Austria picked six correct numbers for a solo prize via the win2day gaming site and won exactly 1 million euros. - The first seven-fold jackpot...
... took place on Sunday, November 18, 2018 and is the only seven-fold jackpot in Lotto history to date. - The round with the highest prize for picking six correct numbers...
... was the one on Wednesday, November 21, 2018. A man from Lower Austria received 14,926,157.30 euros for the seven-fold jackpot. This was also the round with the highest prize for picking six correct numbers as well as the first double-digit million euro prize. - The 3,000th time six numbers were picked correctly...
... was on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, when a man from Lower Austria scored a solo prize with six correct picks on a normal lottery ticket, winning exactly 1 million euros. - The first Lotto Bonus draw...
... was held on Friday, March 13, 2020. It was integrated into the existing draw rhythm as the third weekly draw and concluded without anyone getting six correct picks. - The 3,000th draw...
... was held on Sunday, November 29, 2020. It concluded without a winner and was thus converted into a jackpot.
Highlights and curiosities from Austria's federal states
Vienna
In Vienna, the six numbers were picked correctly 728 times, and 249 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 9.6 million euros and was won in 2015.
The most unusual events in Vienna took place in 1996 and 2009: in the ninth round in 1996, there were two lottery tickets with six correct picks, but there was only one winner: a Vienna resident had played the 0/07 system twice. Of the seven numbers on each betting-slips, six were identical, and it was exactly these six numbers that were drawn. It was a solo grand prize by a detour that brought the winner 16 million shillings (1.16 million euros).
On August 26, 2009, a woman from Vienna submitted two normal lottery tickets with five and six picks, respectively. Three picks on both tickets were identical, including the lucky combination, which landed her both grand prizes of this round at about 333,000 euros each.
Lower Austria
In Lower Austria, the six numbers were picked correctly 595 times, and 226 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest prize for six correct picks was 14.9 million euros, is the highest Lotto win in Austria so far and was won in 2018 after the only seven-fold jackpot so far.
The most unusual event in Lower Austria took place in 2005: on February 13, 2005, a retiree picked the correct six numbers twice on his normal lottery ticket (in the fourth and fifth pick) by mistakenly selecting the same numbers twice. He played eight picks in total, and only two were identical. (In total, the six correct numbers were picked three times during this round, at around 277,000 euros each).
Burgenland
In Burgenland, the six numbers were picked correctly 116 times, and 52 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 6.6 million euros and was won in 2002.
The most unusual event in Burgenland took place in 1993: six correct picks were not enough for a man from Burgenland in the 45th round in 1993, and so he also marked the bonus number correctly on his system ticket (using the 3/18 system with three bank numbers and 18 chosen numbers). In addition to six correct picks, this also resulted in three times five correct picks with a bonus number, resulting in a total prize of over 10 million shillings (about 727,000 euros).
Upper Austria
In Upper Austria, the six numbers were picked correctly 462 times, and 160 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 9.2 million euros and was won in 2020.
The most unusual event in Upper Austria took place in 2000: an Upper Austrian chose the 0/08 system for the draw on February 8, 2000, which allowed him to pick eight numbers. Since he also guessed the bonus number in addition to the six correct picks, six times five correct picks with bonus numbers were added to the six correct picks. His total winnings at the time amounted to over 13.6 million shillings (just under 1 million euros).
Salzburg
In Salzburg, the six numbers were picked correctly 167 times, and 47 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 6.9 million euros and was won in 2008.
The most unusual event in Salzburg took place in 2009: using the 0/07 system, a Salzburg player picked six correct numbers and won around 993,000 euros. Since he had also picked the right bonus number, there were another six times five correct picks with the bonus number, which made him a millionaire – sort of in a roundabout way, because his total winnings amounted to around 1.1 million euros.
Tyrol
In Tyrol, the six numbers were picked correctly 247 times, and 85 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 7.4 million euros and was won in 2012.
The most unusual event in Tyrol took place in 2003: on January 8, 2003, a player from Tyrol played the lottery ticket that ultimately contained the six correct picks twice and thus got two times six correct picks for about 178,000 euros each, and in addition to that a total of four times three correct picks. His total winnings amounted to just under 356,000 euros.
Vorarlberg
In Vorarlberg, the six numbers were picked correctly 120 times, and 34 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 7.2 million euros and was won in 2003.
The most unusual event in Vorarlberg took place in 1996: in the 23rd round in 1996, a woman from Vorarlberg picked the same numbers twice on a lottery ticket and thus scored two times six correct picks (out of a total of four in this round), thus winning the prize for six correct picks of over 3.3 million shillings twice, amounting to a total of about 6.7 million shillings (about 487,000 euros). The reason she gave was this: "Whenever I had three correct picks, I was annoyed with myself that it was only three correct picks once. So I started playing every pick twice, so I would get at least two times three correct picks."
Styria
In Styria, the six numbers were picked correctly 450 times, and 142 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 6.3 million euros and was won in 2016.
The most unusual event in Styria took place in 2015: on October 7, 2015, a player from Styria (as one of two players) hit the double jackpot and won around 1.6 million euros. In a phone conversation with our customer service centre, he informed them that this was already the second time he had gotten six correct picks. The first time had happened ten months earlier, at the end of November of 2014. At that time he had won a solo grand prize after a double jackpot of around 3.6 million euros.
Carinthia
In Carinthia, the six numbers were picked correctly 227 times, and 76 of these led to prizes of a million euros or more. The biggest of these prizes amounted to 7.2 million euros and was won in 2012.
The most unusual events in Carinthia took place in 2008 and 1993: "You can find us very easily – actually, you already know the way," the Austrian Lotteries' manager responsible for disbursing the winnings was told by a woman from Carinthia who hit the jackpot on January 16, 2008, and won about 1.7 million euros with her solo grand prize with six correct picks. Her husband had previously already scored six correct picks in 1999, winning about 10 million shillings (about 727,000 euros).
There had already been such a double whammy inside a family in Carinthia in 1993, when a woman and her daughter each independently got six correct picks in the same round. Both had – successfully – tried their luck by using the family's birthdays. The two times six correct picks each brought in about 4 million shillings (about 291,000 euros).