Buy Italy Gioco Del Lotto Tickets Online

If you are no longer feeling challenged by the world’s "normal" lotteries, then Italy Gioco Del Lotto may very well pique your interest.

In this guide, we will look at one of the most confusing and wonderful lotteries that we have ever come across.

We will explain how this game works and show how you can buy Italy Gioco Del Lotto tickets online.

About Italy Gioco Del Lotto 

Italy Gioco Del Lotto, also known as Italy Lotto or Italy Lottomatica, was initially started in 1528. However, at the time, it did not function as a cash-prize lottery.

When launched, the game was used to select citizens who would become members of the Greater Council of the Republic.

In fact, it was only in 1734 that the game became a lottery that would be recognisable today.

The game went through numerous changes from 1807 until 2009, when it settled on the format it uses today.

These changes include how many times a week it occurred and how many cities its draws took place in.

Today, the lottery is a favourite in Italy and is enjoyed by players around the world.

It is, however, also one of the most confusing games around.

Italy Gioco Del Lotto Draws

One of the great things about this lottery is that it offers three chances to win every week.

This is because draws are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 pm CET.

However, the funny thing is that there are three draws that all take place at this time.

This is because this lottery holds simultaneous draws across the country. Though it used to be in ten different cities across Italy, today it is only three-Milan, Naples and Rome.

How to Play Italy Gioco Del Lotto

As we keep saying, this lottery is incredibly complicated. However, when first looking at it, you would not think that it is.

The game appears to use a simple single-matrix (5/90) system. This means that you need to choose five numbers from a pool that ranges from 1 to 90.

Things get complicated when you realise that the game uses an 11-wheel machine to choose winning numbers. Ten of these wheels are named after different cities in Italy. The eleventh wheel is the national wheel.

During the draw, each wheel pulls five unique numbers.

This means that, when buying your ticket, there are multiple different options to choose from depending on how you want to play.

The available options are:

• Estratto Semplice: This requires that you correctly guess one number from any of the 11 wheels.
• Estratto Determinato: This requires that you correctly guess one number from a wheel that you specify before the draw.
• Ambo: This requires that you correctly guess two numbers on a particular wheel.
• Ambetto: This means that you should guess one number and the number that comes before or after it. Explained another way, you can choose a single number, and the number that is one higher or lower could also be a win.
• Terno: This requires that you correctly guess three numbers on a particular wheel.
• Quarterna: This requires that you correctly guess four numbers on a particular wheel.
• Cinquina: This requires that you correctly guess all five numbers on a particular wheel.

Each bet that you place from the above list will cost you €1 (when bought from within Italy). The number of bets you play is only counted for a single wheel that you select.

This means that if you play Ambo and Ambetto, your total cost for one wheel will be €2. If, however, you want to bet on three wheels, your ticket will cost €6.

If you choose to get your lottery tickets online, there may be some sites that will offer a slight discount if you purchase multiple wheels.

Italy Gioco Del Lotto Prizes and Odds

For all of the confusion of how the game actually works, there is only a maximum jackpot of €6 million offered.

The odds of winning this jackpot are 1 in 43,949,268.

While these odds aren’t the worst, they are still not the greatest. After all, lotteries such as Austria Lotto offer some of the lowest odds around at only 1 in 8,145,060 and have higher jackpots.

Regardless, there is no minimum jackpot. The highest prize is determined by how many tickets are sold for a particular draw. There is also no option for the jackpot to roll over.

Aside from the jackpot, there are four additional prize tiers that you can win on. These are outlined below:

Claiming Italy Gioco Del Lotto Prizes

Claiming your prize from Italy Gicoco Del Lotto is pretty straightforward and similar to plenty of other lotteries in the world. The way to claim your winnings depends on how much they are.

Winnings less than €532 can be claimed from any authorised retailer. Winnings over €532 but under €1,064 can be claimed from the lottery remotely and will be paid via wire transfer.

For any winnings over €1,064, it appears that you will need to visit the Lottomatica offices to claim your prize.

All prizes are paid as cash lump sums.

However, you will only receive your winnings after a tax of 8% is deducted. This tax is deducted regardless of whether you are a local or international player.

Notable Italy Gioco Del Lotto Winners

While the jackpot is capped at €6 million, it has never actually reached that amount. In fact, the highest amount the jackpot has ever achieved occurred in 2014 and maxed out at €3.124 million.

Other record jackpots for the lottery include €3.069 million in 2007 and €2.4 million in 2008.

This is rather disappointing, considering other lotteries out there have substantially greater jackpots and offer better odds.

They are also slightly cheaper to play because you don’t need to bet on multiple wheels.

Italy Gioco Del Lotto-Should You Play?

Italy Gioco Del Lotto has been around for hundreds of years, and there is a clear reason why.

The game is worth playing, especially if you are looking for an unconventional format.

While it may be incredibly confusing at first, you will quickly get used to how the game works. Heck, you may even become an expert on how to place bets to work to your advantage.

However, as great as we think this lottery is, it always sits at the back of our mind that there are other lotteries on offer that give you much more and cost less.

Regardless of this, this game is still worth playing, even if just to try something different.