Jackpot!

A man from Bavaria was the only lottery player to get all the correct numbers, including the so-called super number (3, 4, 23, 30, 43 and 44 in combination with the jackpot's super number 6), according to lottery officials in Stuttgart.

He has won 31.7 million euros ($46.8 million) - the second largest single win in Germany's 50-year lottery history. The record stands at a grand total of 37.7 million euros won by a man from North Rhine-Westphalia in October 2006.

However, the new multi-millionare will not have made many friends in the lottery community by getting all numbers right.

If Wednesday had seen another consecutive unsuccessful jackpot draw, there would have been a compulsory payout of the jackpot - a first in German lottery history.

This forced distribution would have effectively canceled out the six plus one rule that usually applies and opened up the jackpot for distribution among all players with just six correct numbers despite these having the wrong super number.

In view of such tempting prospects, people from across Germany rushed to lottery stations on Wednesday, betting a total of 87 million euros in a bid to get their hands on the inflated jackpot which had risen steadily in 12 draws since August 8.

nk/dpa/AFP

Editor: Trinity Hartman