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| Photo: jacilluch, CC BY-SA 2.0 |
The final countdown to the celebration of this year's Spanish Christmas Lottery, El Gordo (The Fat One), has begun. On December 22, the Teatro Real de Madrid will host the draw, which gives thousands of Spaniards the greatest hope.
Knowing the exact number that will win the 'Fat' prize is a matter for magicians and fortune tellers, but there are many who ask the question 'what number will be awarded in the Lottery?' It's one of the most searched terms on Google during the month of December. Logically it is impossible to know, but if we look at the statistics and at the winning numbers from all of the previous editions, we can determine which numbers are more likely to win prizes and which numbers have had the most luck with the ‘Gordo’ throughout the history of the Lottery draw. With this, [perhaps] we can rule out those that have never or rarely been awarded.
While plenty of people will simply play whichever number happens to be available at their favourite local bar, many Spaniards choose theirs carefully.
A common question you’ll hear people ask is “En qué termina?” (What does it end with?) While choosing the exact five numbers you want to play is quite difficult (although you can do so online), many people will at least try and make the last digit or two mean something (to them, obviously).
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| Winning Lottery number in 2016 |
The number most preferred by those seeking luck is one that ends in 5 ... El Gordo de Navidad has terminated in this number up to 32 times, followed by 4 and 6 (27 times).
It's usual to avoid the so-called ugly numbers and focus on those considered pretty. Tickets ending in 13, because of bad luck, were usually the least popular. However, the ‘Gordo’ of 2016 ended up in this figure and therefore, since then has been one of the most requested.
The most repeated endings have been 85 (7 times), 56 (6), 64 (5) and 95, 58 and 40, awarded four times each. In three different years, El Gordo fell to numbers ending at 297 and twice each El Gordo was number 15640 and 20297.
However, you should [probably] avoid some endings, since it has never fallen on numbers that ended in 09, 10, 21, 25, 31, 34, 41, 42, 43, 51, 54, 59, 67, 78 or 82. In addition, the 1 is the least fortunate ending, since it has only come out 8 times. In turn, the 2, has been the ending in thirteen editions of the draw; and the number 9, which has been in 16, is also considered not very "reliable".
In actual fact, one number does not matter any more than another, although superstition is superstition.
The superstitious should also avoid a few thousand, as no jackpot ever started with 27, 37, 39, 41, 44, 51, 64, 67 to 75, 77, or by numbers between 80 and 99.
The earliest first prize was drawn in 2004: at 9.15 in the morning, thirteen minutes after the start of the draw, the number 54600 surprised everyone by being the El Gordo of that year when only 39 balls had been drawn.
This table lists all of the numbers that have won the jackpot of the Christmas Lottery throughout history, which has been held continuously since 1812.
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