After EuroMillions jackpot in UK, Russian woman thanks bay leaf for her own
A mystery British ticket holder has claimed a whopping £111 million win on EuroMillions and made headlines across Europe. A Russian pensioner who celebrated a much smaller windfall this weekend has offered a more aromatic explanation for her good fortune: a lucky bay leaf in her wallet.
Identified by state news agency RIA Novosti as Tatyana O. from St Petersburg, she had been playing the lottery for about three years when she added something new to her routine: carrying a bay leaf in her wallet, following a superstition that it attracts money.
She went to the lottery booth one month later and scratched off the winning ticket. Lottery distributor Stoloto reported that it yielded four prizes totalling two million rubles, with an additional two million rubles in prize money included in the bonus field.
The faces belonged to someone Tatyana knew. Two weeks ago, she dreamed that there was a sequence of zeros followed by the number two, she said. It seemed like her dream had been a prophecy, since the ticket had five lots of two million, so ten million roubles in total ($119,000 or €104,000).
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Helping other people was also her secret to good fortune, Tatyana insisted. Based on that guiding principle, she will allocate some funds to her relatives and use the remaining funds to indulge in a rejuvenating retreat.
In Britain, seven numbers did the job
Across Europe, Friday’s EuroMillions draw resulted in a significantly larger payout. A single ticket sold in the United Kingdom matched all five main numbers and both Lucky Stars, winning the €130 million jackpot — or £111 million, according to British operator Allwyn.
The winning numbers were 11, 12, 15, 38 and 49, with Lucky Stars 10 and 12. Allwyn urged players to check their tickets. Its announcement offered no details about the winner’s identity, rituals or choice of lucky charm.
That leaves one winner with a fortune and another with both a fortune and an explanation. Whether the explanation holds up is a different question.
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An ingredient missing from the maths
Tatyana’s account comes through the company selling the tickets. It describes what she believes brought her luck, without establishing that the leaf or dream influenced the result.
The mathematics offers less room for interpretation. The odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are one in 139,838,160 per line. Every valid combination has the same chance, whether the numbers come from birthdays, a dream or a random selection.
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Nor do we hear how many people carried a lucky charm and went home empty-handed.
All in all, Tatyana can enjoy her winnings. For anyone hoping to repeat the experience, the bay leaf remains a more reliable ingredient in soup.
