Can I Remain Anonymous if I Win the Jackpot?

There’s one really important question that a lot of lottery players don’t even think to ask themselves before they play: can I remain anonymous if I win the jackpot?

In this article, we’re going to take you through how to remain anonymous after a lottery win, and also why that might not always be the best choice. We’ll even see some grown-up lottery winners dressed up as cartoon characters, for reasons we won’t go into just yet.

Can PlayEuroLotto players remain anonymous if they win the jackpot?

Yes! We’re pleased to say that when a player wins big with PlayEuroLotto, the right to choose whether to go public is entirely theirs.

We believe trusting players to make this decision is the right thing to do, as there are pros and cons to both anonymity and going public which will affect different winners in different ways.

Although we will never in any way force our players to go public when they win, we certainly will be on hand to offer our advice on how to handle the process.

PlayEuroLotto is not subject to any laws or regulations which require winners to be named publicly. As such, we cannot see any reason why we would need to implement any such rule in future.

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How about players using different lottery services?

For those playing other lotteries or using lottery betting services other than PlayEuroLotto, the answer to this question will depend largely upon where you live and which lottery you are betting on.

The MegaMillions and Powerball multistate lotteries in the US provide an interesting example of this variance in action. Due to differing state laws, if a player from Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina were to win the jackpot in one of these lotteries, they would get to choose whether to remain anonymous. If they were from any other US state, they would be compelled to reveal their identity.

Our best advice would be to check with your lottery provider to find out whether you have a right to anonymity or not in the case of a big win.

Or you could just come play with us. 

How lottery winners in China are exploiting a loophole to remain anonymous

If you’ve been a regular follower of our blog, you may be aware of how Chinese lottery players are dressing up as their favourite characters in order to protect their anonymity.

It’s all down to a stipulation of certain Chinese lotteries, which specifies that winners must collect their cheque in person.

One ingenious jackpot winner realised that this rule didn’t say anything about how winners had to be dressed when they picked up their prize. They therefore decided to go in costume!

Since that fateful day, scores of Chinese lottery winners have protected their anonymity by turning up to their winners’ ceremonies in fancy dress. You can read more about this weird and wonderful work-around by clicking the link above.

Why some lottery winners prefer to go public

What’s the biggest secret you ever had to keep? We bet it wasn’t as big as a lottery jackpot.

Many lottery winners who have the option to remain anonymous end up going public about their win precisely because a lottery jackpot is such a hard secret to keep.

Not only do winners have to decide very carefully which friends and family to tell the news, they must also do their best to keep local and national media off the scent. Depending on the size of the jackpot, a lottery win can be massive news. Receiving a prize worth millions of euros without attracting any suspicion whatsoever is always going to be a tough ask.

Source: The Mirror

Christine Weir (picture above, with husband Colin), won a European record EuroMillions jackpot worth € 185 million in 2011. She revealed why she had chosen to go public in a newspaper interview following her win.

“We would have preferred to stay anonymous, but we recognised it wasn’t a possibility,” she said. “We wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the experience if we had constructed lies to tell our nearest and dearest.”

Julie Jeffrey, another lotto millionaire, expressed a similar sentiment.  “I went public for the same reason the majority of people do — there is nowhere to hide,” she said.

“Even if you only tell one person, things spread. Before you know it everybody knows. And if you don’t take publicity, [the lottery organisers] can’t acknowledge your existence, so they can’t help you or provide a back up.”