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SuperEnalotto (Italy): a game guide
SuperEnalotto is Italy's flagship number-selection lottery. You choose six distinct numbers from 1 to 90, and the pool is so large that the jackpot has over 622 million combinations. This guide separates the format we read directly on the page of Italy's regulator (the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli, ADM) from the operator's (Sisal's) information that we saw only through a search summary, and calculates the exact odds of the six prize categories. The base format of this game has been added to this site's number generator, Lottery Explorer, Combination Calculator and Lab.
- Format
- 6 numbers from 1 to 90; a complementary number called the Jolly verified
- Price
- EUR 1.00 per combination verified
- Prize categories
- 6, 5+Jolly, 5, 4, 3, 2 (plus instant wins) verified
- Jackpot combinations
- 622,614,630 = C(90,6); the operator's published figure was seen only in a search summary partly verified
- SuperStar option
- A separately drawn number 1 to 90, EUR 0.50 extra (price from a search summary) partly verified
- Draw days
- Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 20:00 (search summary only) not verified
- Supported in this site's tools
- Yes: generator, Lottery Explorer, Combination Calculator and Lab (base format) computed by LottoFlick
The numbers: 622,614,630 combinations
There are C(90,6) = 622,614,630 ways to choose six distinct numbers from 90 without order. That is about 76 times Korea's Lotto 6/45 (8,145,060), about 4.5 times EuroMillions (139,838,160) and about 2.1 times each of the US Powerball (292,201,338) and Mega Millions (290,472,336). It is the largest jackpot count of any lottery this site covers. What the ADM page itself says is "a combination of 6 numbers drawn from a continuous series between 1 and 90"; the operator's statement of the jackpot odds as "1 in 622,614,630" we saw only in a search summary. That the figure equals the calculation from the number format we checked ourselves.
The distinctive structure: the Jolly and the two-match category
After the six main numbers a complementary number, the Jolly, is drawn. The ADM page calls the Jolly a "complementary number" and lists the prize categories as "6, 5+jolly, 5, 4, 3, 2". The Jolly is used only to separate the five-match category into a higher one (5+Jolly). This site's registry classes it as a "draw-only bonus" and records that it does not increase the number of jackpot combinations.
| Category | Winning tickets | Odds (1 in N) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (jackpot) | 1 | 622,614,630 |
| 5 + Jolly | 6 | 103,769,105 |
| 5 | 498 | 1,250,230.2 |
| 4 | 52,290 | 11,907.0 |
| 3 | 1,905,680 | 326.7 |
| 2 | 28,942,515 | 21.5 |
The counts work like this. "5 + Jolly" is five of the six main numbers with the remaining number being the Jolly: 6 ways. "5" is five main numbers plus one of the 83 numbers that are neither main nor Jolly: 6 × 83 = 498. Four matches are C(6,4) × C(84,2) = 52,290, three matches C(6,3) × C(84,3) = 1,905,680, and two matches C(6,2) × C(84,4) = 28,942,515 (84 = 90 − 6 numbers do not match). The calculated 1 in 103,769,105 for "5 + Jolly" equals the figure we read in a search summary of the operator's information. The chance of winning in some category is the sum of the six, 30,900,990, divided by the total: about 4.96% (1 in 20.1).
The large pool shows in the low categories too. In Lotto 6/45, two matches win nothing, but in SuperEnalotto two matches, at 1 in 21.5, are a prize category. At the same time the jackpot is 76 times harder than Lotto 6/45. The structure aims at large prizes while giving small prizes a larger share of the wins.
Instant wins
Besides matching numbers, the ADM page introduces an instant win (vincite immediate) category. Prizes run from EUR 25 to EUR 1,000, and the page gives a frequency of about one per 100 to 20,000 validated combinations. How instant wins combine with the number draw and what share of sales they take we could not confirm. This feature is unique to SuperEnalotto among the games on this site.
The SuperStar option
According to the operator's information (a search summary), adding EUR 0.50 to a combination lets you attach a SuperStar, one number from 1 to 90 drawn from a separate machine, separate from the main numbers. The SuperStar prize seems to depend on the category matched with the main numbers and on whether the SuperStar matches, but we could not confirm the prize rules. The SuperStar does not change the probabilities of the six main numbers, and the jackpot's 622,614,630 combinations are independent of it. This site's Combination Calculator treats the SuperStar as a separate optional product and leaves it out of the base format.
Size against other lotteries
| Lottery | Jackpot combinations | Relative to SuperEnalotto |
|---|---|---|
| Lotto 6/45 (Korea) | 8,145,060 | about 1/76 |
| Loto 7 (Japan) | 10,295,472 | about 1/60 |
| EuroMillions | 139,838,160 | about 1/4.5 |
| Powerball (US) | 292,201,338 | about 1/2.1 |
| SuperEnalotto | 622,614,630 | 1 |
The difficulty of the jackpot is the same thing as the number of combinations. To get a feel for how big 622 million is, turn it into seconds: 622,614,630 seconds is about 19.7 years (Why big numbers blur our judgement).
Working through 622,614,630: three exercises
At p = 1/622,614,630, a jackpot is rarer than almost anything people meet in daily life. Three exact calculations make the point.
- A coin flip. A 50% chance of at least one jackpot needs ln 2 × 622,614,630 ≈ 431.6 million lines, which at EUR 1 a line is EUR 431.6 million, and even that buys only an even chance.
- A very long habit. One line in each of 5,200 draws, about fifty years at two draws a week (an assumption, as draw days are unconfirmed), gives a lifetime chance of about 0.00084%, or 1 in 119,734.
- Lower tiers. The "2 numbers" category at 1 in 21.5 means that about 242 of those 5,200 lines should win something small. The distribution of results in the long run is very lopsided: most wins are tiny and the jackpot is a one-in-hundreds-of-millions event.
The Jolly and the instant wins make the game look generous without changing p. When a large pool is paired with a prize list that starts at two matches, the share of players who win something is modest (about 4.96%) but it is not nothing. For the effect on a typical ticket's value see why people buy negative-expected-value tickets.
Reading an Italian lottery: what is confirmed and what is not
The odds table here was counted directly from the number format. The only entry we could compare against a figure from the operator was 5 + Jolly at 1 in 103,769,105; whether the other entries match the operator's published table we could not check. Agreement in one cell does not vouch for the rest, but the counts are simple products of binomial coefficients, so the chance of error is small. What this guide could not calculate is the prize split. The jackpot rollover and the per-tier shares are unconfirmed, so no expected value or return rate is given. Not filling unverified items with numbers is a rule of this site.
On this site
- The Lottery Explorer shows SuperEnalotto's verification status (number format and price confirmed from ADM; the official odds figure and draw days not).
- The Combination Calculator shows the C(90,6) calculation.
- In the Lottery Lab you can simulate draws in this format and compare them with the exact odds.
- The number generator draws six distinct numbers from 90 at random; it does not improve the chance of winning.
What we could not verify
- Draw days and times (a search summary gave Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 20:00, but the ADM page does not).
- Prize shares by category, jackpot rollover rules, the SuperStar's prizes and price (only the EUR 0.50 from a search summary).
- The operator's official odds table (the odds here are calculated; only "5 + Jolly" was seen to agree with an operator figure, in a search summary).
- Tax and claim deadlines.
- Some Sisal and Italian lottery pages refused access when opened, so they were read only through search summaries.
Lottery outcomes are random, and understanding odds does not change the probability of a particular ticket. Set a spending limit and check local age and participation restrictions. This site does not sell lottery tickets.
LottoFlick is independent and not an official lottery operator. Numbers are random and cannot be predicted.
Sources and verification
- Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (the regulator), SuperEnalotto: how to play: six numbers from 1 to 90, the Jolly complementary number, EUR 1.00 per combination, categories 6, 5+jolly, 5, 4, 3, 2, instant wins EUR 25 to 1,000 — verified
- Sisal (the operator), SuperEnalotto how to play and win probabilities (SuperStar EUR 0.50 extra; draws Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat at 20:00; jackpot 1 in 622,614,630; 5+1 1 in 103,769,105), seen only through a search summary — partly verified · the operator's pages returned HTTP 403 when opened
- LottoFlick calculation: exact tier counts — computed by LottoFlick