If you walked into a theatre full of people and asked if anyone would love to win some money, I guarantee you would have a lot of hands shooting up. Like it or note, we all love money and we especially love money that does not take us a lot of effort to get.
The big question is how do you place yourself in a position where you are the lucky winner from all those other people who are playing the same game. This is exactly what we shall attempt to dig into here...
History of lotteries and number draws
Lotteries and number draws have been around for generations with the first forms being recorded in the Chinese Hans Dynasty as early as 187BC. It is actually believed that these lotteries helped to finance major government projects including the Great wall of China.
In Europe, the first lotteries were recorded in the Roman Empire and were mainly for entertainment and amusement at parties where guests were given tickets and prizes. Later on, the Roman Emperor Augustus Ceaser organized lotteries whose funds were meant to repair the city of Rome.
Though lotteries, like all other forms of gambling were later made illegal in the 19th Century, they made their comeback after World War II and they started to make reappearance in the 1960s with many governments making use of them to generate revenue as an alternative to raising taxes.
Lotteries are popular everywhere
Even today, lotteries are still popular and are still being used by many people for all sorts of purposes. However, most interesting is that they are open to any one’s bidding, provided they are above the age of 18 years and they do promise huge sums of money to be won.
Studies have shown that over 90 million people play the lottery all over the world and that the lottery is the most popular form of gambling. Well, gambling or not, people are often open to the idea of investing a little money for a big harvest at the end of the day. In Uganda today, the demographics of lottery playing are not only defined to the youth but cut across all age groups.
How much can I win - biggest lottery wins in history
Throughout history, there have been some major lottery wins and it is because of these that many people have been inspired to participate in the game. Below are some wins that are worth the mention:
- A $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was won on November 7, 2022. The equivalent of this in UGX is an unimaginable figure.
- A Powerball jackpot win of $1,586.4 million with walk away cash of $983.5 million was won on January 13th 2016.
- Mega Million Jackpot of $1,537 million with walk away cash (after tax) of $877.8 million on October 23rd 2018.
- Euro Million jackpot of £170.2 million ($208.2 million) won by a UK winner on October 8th 2019.
From the above, it is clear that there are some huge sums of lottery jackpot money to be won out there. Question is how you go about it to better your chances of winning. There are so many tips out there on how to win the lottery but the most important one is that you actually have to play to be able to win.
Watching broadcasts of winners and reading about them in the papers is not enough. You have to take the plunge and buy that ticket. Who knows, it might actually be the winning ticket.
Secondly, once you have bought the ticket, pay attention to the numbers and if the draw is on a certain date, jot it down so you don’t forget. Imagine being the winner but because you forgot to watch the draw or did not pay attention to your numbers, you missed your win.
25+ Play responsibly. Gambling is addictive and can be psychologically harmful.
