The jackpot for Italy's popular SuperEnalotto has hit a whopping 80 million euros and it remains by far the richest game in the world, organizers Sisal said.
The next draw will be on Saturday and for the previous one on Thursday over 70 million bets were placed, compared to almost 50 million bets for the Tuesday draw.
Last week, when the jackpot had already passed the 70-million-euro mark, the number of bets placed were no more than 29 million.
The Italian pot by far outstrips the world's other high-paying games with California's Super Lotto second at 30.279 million euros and Europe's Euro Millions third with a jackpot of 29 million euros. SuperEnalotto's jackpot has been building since its last top prize was won on April 26, when 40.6 million euros were won.
The previous SuperEnalotto record jackpot was 71.8 million euros, which was won in Milan in May of 2005 and divided among the 10 lucky winners who created a pool system which cost them 126 euros.
In May of last year a single winner took home an amazing 71.4 million euros.
The advantage of the Italian game over others, especially those in America, is that SuperEnalotto pays out the full prize on winning while the US game gives winners the pot in instalments or pays a single, reduced prize.
SuperEnalotto, which made its debut in December 1997, has proved to be a true boon for Italy's state coffers which receive 49.5% of all bets made, far more than other national betting games which pay the Treasury between 20% and 25%.
The pool itself receives 38% of bets, slip vendors received 8% and game organizers Sisal take a 4.4% cut.
Last year SuperEnalotto raked in 1.940 billion euros of which the state took in 960 million, while in the first nine months of the year 1.46 billion euros was spent on the game giving the state 723 million euros in revenue. In order to win SuperEnalotto betters must choose the correct six numbers drawn from one to 90. Draws are held three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
There is also a 5+1 win, in which a seventh bonus number is drawn and can be added to any five of the original six-number combination.
According to online bookies, betters have a well over 600-million-to-one chance of picking the six correct numbers and an over 100 million-to-one chance of getting a 5+1 win. SuperEnalotto also pays for five, four and three correct guesses.
Each six-number combination costs 50 euro cents with a minimum two combination or one euro bet.
