South Africans taking note of EuroMillions popularity

The EuroMillions draw is one of the biggest available in South Africa and continues to be a popular choice for South Africans far and wide.

It has produced some huge winners in the past and its recent offerings are large in size and big in appeal as well.

The approximate equivalent of R3.8 billion is currently on the line. That is, indeed, an immense amount of money.

The draw happens twice a week, in Paris, France. Each Tuesday and Friday is another chance to win big.

In order to enter the draw, one simply has to pick five digits, from 1 to 50, and two additional numbers from 1 to 12 per line. This can be done manually or via the QuickPick service.

The odds of matching the five numbers and two extra digits correctly are about one in 140 million. Those are not insurmountable odds and have been beaten around the world in the past.

If you were perhaps wondering about Superdraws, the EuroMillions – now and then – replaces the main prize at the time with a payout of €100 million. So that’s about R1.7 billion in South African currency. The Superdraw also requires one to select five numbers and two additional digits from the aforementioned ranges. It can also roll over, but gets capped at €190 million – approximately R3.2 million.

Which numbers people pick is an interesting study in human habits. South Africans who are fans of astrology, for instance, tend to go with what the star signs suggest on a particular day or during any given week.

Others have been known to rely on milestones and anniversaries for pointers about the numbers they choose. Birthdays and dates can be popular picks for this. April, for example, gets converted to four for the month of the year. The day of the week or the time in the month in which one was born also brings suggestion.

Some South Africans are creatures of habit, while others enjoy the adage, ‘a change is as good as a holiday.’ It’s the former who have been known to play the same numbers for years on end.
One such South African, in 2020, almost changed his usual course of action at the last minute when entering the lottery. Had he mixed up his approach for once, he wouldn’t have walked off with a grand prize. But he stuck to his proverbial guns and bagged a telling R38 million.

“I have been playing the same numbers for the past four years. I wanted to play the QuickPick selection because I thought I have been playing the same numbers for years and the maximum amount I have won was R1200,” he said at the time.

“So I thought maybe it’s time I changed my playing strategy. I asked the cashier for a QuickPick selection, but before I gave her the money, my gut told me that today might be the day I strike it lucky and opted to play the same numbers manually.”

Different strokes for different folks, indeed.

Image Courtesy: www.thebalanceeveryday.com