Updated | Yes, a new millionaire this Christmas

Someone just won a whopping €1,183,449.38 just in time for Christmas.

The Super 5 jackpot was taken home by a single winner. The winning ticket was bought from Zejtun.

The winning numbers were: 4 • 24 • 14 • 19 • 6.

This is close to the largest ever jackpot win, a win of €1.5 million also during the Christmas season. The record win took place in December 2014.

Apparently, Christmas time does not affect the number of Super 5 tickets sold.

That’s what Maltco Lotteries told MaltaToday. Sales and Marketing Director, David Anthony Gatt, said that jackpots during this season are usually similar to other months throughout the year.

With one exception.

“The highest Super 5 jackpot ever won was in December 2014, which had a value of €1.5 million,” Gatt said.

The figure was never this high before but it’s getting close this time around.

This week’s jackpot is €1.18 million and it was won tonight, an early Christmas present.

Gatt explained how when a particular jackpot is high, more people are likely to participate.

“It’s very normal for more people to try their luck when a particular jackpot is high,” he said.

So if more tickets are sold during this Christmas season, it’s likely to have nothing to do with the season, but more to do with the size of the potential winnings.

In 2013, the December jackpot was at €350,000. In 2015, it was even lower than that.

In the 2016 and 2017 Christmas season, it was close to €500,000.

This December, however, proved a repeat of the 2014 win with one lucky participant going home with close to €1.5 million just in time for Christmas.

MaltaToday spoke to a few lotto booths in the Birkirkara area and asked the owners about the correlation between a high jackpot and ticket buyers.

"You bet," one of them said. "Once the jackpot hits a million, you see someone come in here with a bigger bet than usual. They’re the usual patrons but we do see some new faces from time to time when the potential winning is a large sum."

Maltco Lotteries is certified in Responsible Gaming by both the European Lotteries and the World Lottery Association.