ITALY: Lottery fever grips the country as the jackpot reaches 131.5 million euros

Record ID: 1543262

  • Title: ITALY: Lottery fever grips the country as the jackpot reaches 131.5 million euros
  • Date: 14th August 2009
  • Summary: LOTTERY TICKETS HANGING
  • Embargoed: 29th August 2009 10:50
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAE853JUT17YPV8HOZGJ8C3SY05
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: The jackpot for the Italian lotto reaches 131.5 millions of euros, the largest in Europe, sparking a ticket buying frenzy across the country ahead of the draw on Thursday evening.
    Italians flocked to tobacconists on Thursday (August 13) to purchase their lottery tickets, as the jackpot climbed to a record breaking 131.5 million euros.
    Millions of people are gripped by the lottery fever with hopes that lady luck will be on their side.
    Mario Frappa bought his ticket from his lucky tobacconist in Rome.
    "I would immediately go abroad. I wouldn't stay in Italy," Frappa said.
    After several months without a winner, the Superenalotto prize is now the largest one ever reached in Europe.
    For many Italians winning the lottery would be a dream come true. But others expressed doubts about the transparency of the game and its procedure.
    "Sorry, I don't play this Superenalotto. I don't believe that the mechanism is correct. I haven't bet a single euro," a passer-by Maria Cucullo said walking with a her friend.
    Many elderly people are lottery fans, one pensioner in Rome said he is uncertain as to what he would use the winnings for.
    "I don't know what I would do with all this money. I am old, you know," said pensioner, Giulio Curzi.
    The numbers will be drawn this evening at 1830 GMT.
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