ITALY: Italians rush to buy last minute lottery tickets for Europe's largest jackpot ever

Record ID: 572680

  • Title: ITALY: Italians rush to buy last minute lottery tickets for Europe's largest jackpot ever
  • Date: 13th August 2009
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (AUGUST 11, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SHOP PEOPLE QUEUING INSIDE SHOP PERSON PLAYING LOTTERY LOTTERY SIGN READING '127.5 MILLION EUROS' SHOP ASSISTANT AT DESK (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PEPPINA GEMMA, ELDERLY ROME RESIDENT, SAYING: " I hope to win of course! I would buy a little hole of a house to spend the last days of my life." LOTTERY TICKETS SHOP OWNER PROCESSING BETS
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2BMQ03SRZMB6YPGHSQV4UYK4M
  • Story Text: The jackpot for the Italian lotto reaches 127.5 million euros, the largest in Europe, sparking a last minute ticket buying frenzy across the country.
    STORY : Lottery fever gripped Italians on Tuesday (August 11) as the country's state lottery jackpot reached a European record high of €127.5 million (109.6 British pounds).
    Many Rome residents rushed to purchase their last minute lottery tickets ahead of the draw on Tuesday evening.
    "I hope to win of course! I would buy a little hole of a house to spend the last days of my life," said Peppina, an elderly lady who tried her luck in a Rome shop.
    After several months without a winner, the Superenalotto prize has gotten bigger and bigger making it the largest prize ever reached in Europe and making Italians dream of a richer life.
    "What will we do? First of all, we'll give part of money to charity, then to our friends, relatives and finally, we must do something unpredictable, we must think about it," Mauro with his wife Giuliana said.
    Stefano, a young lottery hopeful, was more extravagant about his plans if he wins the jackpot.
    "Well, I would buy Ibrahimovich," he said referring to multi-million euro Swedish soccer striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
    The winner, if drawn, will be revealed this evening at 18:30gmt.
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