The Ways In Which The El Gordo Differs From Normal Lotteries

The aim of this piece is to emphasize some of the major differences between common conventional lottery games and the world famous El Gordo lottery.

In a standard lotto game a player is typically required to pick a series of numbers from a particular number range as well as an additional bonus number.  For example, in the UK lotto a player has to choose 6 main numbers from 1-49 inclusive and then a further bonus number from the same range.  To win the jackpot, a player needs to match all of their six main chosen numbers with those numbers drawn.  If there is no single ticket matching all the drawn numbers in a given week, the top prize is rolled over to the following week increasing in size as it does so.

The December El Gordo draw is very different in this area; there are only a certain number of tickets made available for this draw and as a result, winners are guaranteed in every draw. 

The cost of purchasing a full El Gordo ticket (Billete) is also vastly different from purchasing a ticket in a typical lottery game, such as the UK lotto.  Purchasing a ticket for one UK lotto draw costs a British inhabitant just 1 pound.  El Gordo tickets will, on the other hand, cost you 200 Euros each.  Due to the significant price tag of partaking in this lottery game, whole tickets are divided into ten parts (Decimos) costing a more affordable 20 Euros.  It is therefore quite common for groups of friends or family members to split the cost of an entire El Gordo lottery ticket in order to make the game a more workable proposition.

In the UK lottery a very small percentage of people ever win substantial amounts of money, with the majority left disappointed week in week out.  The El Gordo lottery on the other hand gives that winning feeling to a greater number of individuals.  In the 2006 El Gordo Spanish lottery draw, 3 million Euros were paid out to each of the 180 winning billetes.  In the El Gordo lottery draw held in 2005, the winning number was sold in the town of Vic in Catalonia (population 37,825), whose residents collected approximately 500 million Euros.

The El Gordo also delivers considerably better chances of collecting a cash payout compared to that of the UK lotto; with the El Gordo lottery you have a very decent 1 in 6 chance of securing a cash payout compared to 1 in 52 when participating in the UK National lotto.  

When participating in lottery games like the UK lottery, fresh lotto tickets are generated each time a pound is spent which means that tickets never run out for any of the weekly draws.  The El Gordo is vastly different because only a certain number of tickets are ever printed and once they are all sold no more will become available.

The El Gordo lotto not only brings about huge excitement in its native Spain but now all around the world owing to the ever increasing quantity of web-based lottery ticket sales agents.  It is therefore very important that you pick up your preferred number of tickets as soon as they hit the market, to avoid disappointment.