'All I want for Christmas is a Powerball‘: Americans dream of hitting $1.1 billion jackpot

For many of us, winning the lottery – and the money that goes with it – is the stuff of dreams. But when it comes to doing things on a mega scale, nobody does it quite like the Americans.

This week, the US Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.25 billion (€1.06 billion) for Wednesday night’s draw after no one scooped the top prize on Monday.

It was the second jackpot to hit the $1 billion mark this year, following September’s $1.787 billion, and the 12th to cross that threshold since January 2021. Such eye-watering sums are a far cry from what players might expect to win on this side of the Atlantic, where top prizes are much more modest.

Powerball vs EuroMillions

Europe’s closest equivalent to Powerball in terms of individual jackpot size is EuroMillions, but even it doesn’t come close to the US lottery. The EuroMillions jackpot is capped at €250 million, whereas Powerball has no limit, meaning a single ticket holder could potentially walk away with everything. The trade-off is in the odds: winning Powerball is far harder, with the chances of hitting the jackpot around one in 290 million, compared with roughly one in 139 million for EuroMillions.

El Gordo ‘The fat one’ - Spain’s Christmas lottery

When it comes to sheer scale, the one lottery that not only matches but surpasses Powerball is Spain’s El Gordo – literally “The Fat One.” First established as a charity in 1763 and drawn on December 22 every year, at roughly €2.7 billion, El Gordo boasts the world’s biggest total prize pool.

Unlike Powerball, however, which can make a single ticket holder unimaginably rich, El Gordo works on the premise of distributing wealth amongst the largest number of people possible. There are hundreds of small prizes and 13 major ones, including the top prize - the 'El Gordo' jackpot - of €400,000. And the odds of winning that jackpot when compared to Powerball? A surprisingly easy 100,000 to one.

How Europe’s other lotteries stack up

Outside Spain and EuroMillions, Europe’s other bigger lotteries – notably the UK, Germany, and France – are even smaller, reflecting a different approach to the US, where a billionaire can be made overnight. On the plus side, your odds of winning a jackpot are generally higher, and the prizes are also tax-free, unlike Powerball winnings. So while your chances of becoming a billionaire lottery winner in Europe are virtually zero, there might still be plenty of festive cheer for a few lucky Europeans this Christmas.