Mega-Sena History
Brazilians have always had a soft spot for lotteries and just like their Latin counterparts from Spain, anxiously wait for special draws. While the European country has El Gordo as the flagship lottery, in South America there is the Mega-Sena, a lottery with a rich history and a tradition of awarding huge prizes. Add to this the fact that once a year a special draw is organized known as Mega da Virada with boosted jackpots and more people purchasing tickets and it comes as no surprise that it is the leading lottery in Brazil.
Ever since it was introduced, Mega-Sena used an original method for drawing numbers with the digits being extracted from two different balls. This means that numbers were basically extracted in pairs and the draws take longer, creating the adrenaline rush that very few lotteries can replicate. While the system was very popular with Brazilians, organizers decided to streamline the process and draw number 1140 was the one that marked a major change. The numbers are now extracted from the same drum in segments of 10 balls with each of them being differently colored.
The full name of the lottery is Caixa Mega-Sena and it began with a guaranteed starting jackpot of R$2 million which is a few tens of thousands of dollars shy of $1 million. The prizes grew over time and the records were set in 2009 when two lucky players scooped an amount worth R$145million. In 2010 the special event Mega da Virada set a record of its own when a player won R$194.3 million with the jackpot being the result of summing up a small percentage of each prize awarded throughout the previous year.
