LOTTO Hamburg Takes Stock of 2023: The Hanseatic People Are Rediscovering Their Joy of Playing

• Hamburg tipsters won around 224 million euros in 2023
• Four new millionaires in the Hanseatic city thanks to LOTTO 6aus49 and Eurojackpot
• 22 big wins of over 100,000 euros and more

Hamburg, Germany (January 4, 2024) – More millionaires live in Hamburg than in any other city in Germany. Last year, Eurojackpot and LOTTO 6aus49 added four lucky millionaires. A total of 22 Hamburg residents won winnings of 100,000 euros or more in one of the lotteries in 2023.

Managing Directors LOTTO Hamburg Michael Heinrich and Torsten Meinberg. (Photo: Jochen Brunkhorst)

In 2023, the people of Hamburg spent a total of around 172.1 million euros on tickets or tickets for state lotteries. This corresponds to an increase in stakes of around 4.5% compared to the previous year; in 2022 the stakes were still at 164.8 million euros.

“In 2023, LOTTO Hamburg was able to achieve increases on almost all sales channels. The negative impact of inflation is decreasing and people want to boost their happiness again. A good jackpot development stimulated the joy of playing, especially at the end of the year,” explains Michael Heinrich, one of the two managing directors of the city’s LOTTO Hamburg GmbH, and his colleague Torsten Meinberg adds: “The European lottery Eurojackpot in particular has had a lot of success thanks to product improvements and the second drawing day since 2022 can increase significantly.”

Four new millionaires in the Hanseatic city

Two millionaires owe their sudden wealth to the classic gambling game LOTTO 6aus49: In March, a bettor cracked the lottery jackpot, which was filled to the brim with 45 million euros, and in September, a lucky person won 1.5 million euros.

The highest win ever in Hamburg was achieved at the Eurojackpot: a Hamburg internet player won 117.2 million euros in August. In September 2023, another Eurojackpot win of 2.3 million euros flowed into the Hanseatic city.

A total of 22 lucky people from Hamburg achieved huge winnings of 100,000 euros or more with one of the 13 products from the city’s LOTTO Hamburg GmbH.

Over 20 million tickets and tickets were distributed in 2023 for the various products of the municipal LOTTO Hamburg GmbH. In addition to LOTTO 6aus49 and Eurojackpot, these also include GlücksSpirale, the environmental lottery BINGO, as well as KENO, TOTO and various additional lotteries and scratch cards.

Fortuna ensured a large windfall, as Hamburg punters were able to enjoy small and large winnings totaling around 223.9 million euros last year. “The winnings distributed in Hamburg in 2023 were particularly high due to four enormous winnings in the millions. The pooling of stakes by the lottery companies that are part of the German Lotto and Totoblock (DLTB) and the Eurojackpot cooperation enables even small federal states to distribute large amounts of winnings. Hamburg benefited from this this year,” explains LOTTO managing director Michael Heinrich.

Successful lotteries

The most popular lottery remains LOTTO 6aus49. With stakes of 82.6 million euros, this classic contributes 48 percent of the total stake. The second strongest lottery is Eurojackpot, whose stakes of 45.1 million euros make up 26 percent of the total stakes. By introducing the second Eurojackpot draw on Tuesday since March 2022 (in addition to the previous Friday draw), the European lottery in Hamburg has achieved a stake increase of 15 percent.

Rooted in the districts and present on the Internet

With its around 400 acceptance points, LOTTO Hamburg is firmly anchored in the districts of the Hanseatic city. Almost 70 percent of the tickets here are still handed out in person and LOTTO is an important pillar of retail. The Internet is also an important mainstay, as around 13 percent of gaming orders are played online via the website www.lotto-hh.de or www.lotto.de. Subscriptions and licensed, commercial gaming agents also contribute to the result.

The common good benefits

In addition to numerous small and large winners, the common good also benefits from the stakes. The municipal lottery company pays a large part of its proceeds to the Hanseatic city as public welfare taxes. Around 56 million euros flow into the Hamburg budget every year as concession fees, lottery taxes and profit transfers.

The environmental lottery BINGO! and the GlücksSpirale and the SiegerChance with around 1.9 million euros in Hamburg support sport and monument protection as well as social projects and environmental and disaster protection. For example, in 2023, proceeds from the environmental lottery BINGO! 97 projects in nature and environmental protection funded.

Supporter of sport

In addition to promoting competitive and popular sports with funds from GlücksSpirale and SiegerChance, LOTTO Hamburg has been supporting Hamburg sports as a cooperation partner with 400,000 euros for ten years. 16 sports clubs and organizations were supported in 2023. The sports funding amount will be increased to 420,000 euros in the future.

SOURCE: LOTTO Hamburg.  Press release (pdf)