'El Gordo' Holiday Lottery to Pay Out $3B

World's richest lottery spreads the wealth
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2010 1:00 AM CST
'El Gordo' Holiday Lottery to Pay Out $3B
People look at tickets for the Christmas lottery known as "el gordo" or "the fat one" in Madrid yesterday.   (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Spain is bringing billions of holiday good wishes to winners of the world's richest lottery. The contest known as "El Gordo"—the Fat One—is paying out a whopping $3 billion in cash. But the money doesn't go into a single jackpot. Instead it's doled out in a "share the wealth" system of payments ranging from $30 to $450,000 to winners, who can number in the thousands. Winning numbers—78294—were sung out yesterday by children from a Madrid school for orphans, notes the AP.
(More Spain stories.)

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