If you are new to the Elgordo lottery, let me highlight just how crucial this lottery is to a large percentage of Spaniards.  The El Gordo lottery has been a national obsession in Spain for a long time with enormous appeal generated by the Christmas draw every year.  The excitement is such that, 98% of the population play this Spanish National lottery every Christmas.  

There are several major reasons why so many Spanish people join in the Christmas El Gordo draw.  Firstly, there is the incentive of the biggest lottery prize fund of any worldwide lottery game - 2.20 Billion Euros!  Secondly, there are 13,332 cash prizes to be won.  Finally, the odds of scooping a cash prize in the Christmas draw are an excellent 1 in 6.     

With the amount of attention that is given to the Christmas El Gordo lottery draw, many people are unaware that there are five additional El Gordo draws every year as well.  These draws take place in January, March, May, July and November.  Even though these 5 draws don't boast the massive prize fund of the Christmas game, they are considerable nonetheless, ranging from 78 million Euros to 655 million Euros.  What's more, these draws present nearly 3 times as many prizes as the Christmas draw and odds of picking up a cash prize of an amazing 1 in 3.  

The Spanish Christmas Lottery works in a different way to most worldwide lotteries. A complete ticket 'billete' is very expensive, costing 200 Euros.  However, these tickets are divided up into ten 'decimos' (tenths) each costing 20 Euros.  When purchasing your tickets you have the option of buying a single decimo, a complete ticket, or a share of a ticket.  If you don't acquire the whole ticket, someone else will buy the remainder of your ticket.  For example, if you purchase two decimos, another buys three and one buys five and your ticket scoops 1000 Euros, then you will win 200 Euros, 300 Euros and 500 Euros correspondingly.  Owing to the expense of buying a complete ticket, it is not uncommon for families and friends to bring together their lottery funds and each person buy a single 'decimo' (tenth).

The likelihood of scooping a cash prize in the Elgordo are tremendous and you no longer have to reside in Spain to participate.  You can now buy your El Gordo tickets from a selection of reputable web based lottery ticket sales agents regardless of where you live globally.  As a result, anybody can now revel in the excitement of this mammoth Spanish National lottery.