Lady Luck’s ready to bestow her graces on a lucky punter to pick the five ‘magic numbers’ worth more than 3 billion HUF (approx. 12 million USD). There hasn’t been a jackpot winner on the lotto here for more than half a year so the pot kept getting bigger and bigger. Record number of entries is being received weekly including those staked by so-called lotto tourists. People from neighbouring countries cross into Hungary to plunk down their money at border town lottery outlets. According to observers the eventual lucky winner will likely have quite a headache to keep his or her identity secret. As a means of comparison average Hungarian wages now amount to 2 million HUF (under 10 000 USD) per annum. Regulations allow for the top prize to accumulate for one year. In the event there’s no winner at all the prize-money gets distributed proportionately among punters with four-three-two numbers out of five drawn. In the interim the Government becomes the biggest winner as it creams off some 60% of all moneys ventured or several billion HUFs every week without an outright winner.

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