History
The Danish Lottery has been creating big winners and giving back to society since it was formed in 1948. Learn about the key dates in Danish Lottery history, including when games have started, changes have been made and record prizes have been won.
A Tip service, Dansk Tipstjeneste was formed, primarily as a way to raise money for athletes who needed funding. The Danish Olympic Committee had been calling for permission to offer Tips since 1936, but laws on betting needed to be established before a gaming company could be founded.
The first Tips game was made available, with players having to predict the outcome of 12 football matches. There were 18 winners of the top prize, who each received a payout of 3,916 kroner.
After more than 40 years of Tips-based games, the first draw game took place with the launch of Lotto on Saturday 7th October 1989.
The first Viking Lotto draw was held in Norway, with Denmark among the five participating countries at the time. The game was originally known as Onsdags Lotto in Denmark and was the first multinational lottery ever seen in Europe.
A player from Copenhagen became the biggest winner in Lotto’s history, banking a prize worth more than 38 million kroner.
New legislation was introduced in Denmark, allowing other companies to offer gambling. However, the Danish Lottery kept some of its exclusive rights on certain games.
Eurojackpot was launched with seven participating countries, including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
A player from Denmark became the first ticket holder from outside of Germany to win Eurojackpot’s first prize, landing 135 million kroner. It set a new record for the largest lottery win in Danish history.
A Eurojackpot prize of 315 million kroner was snapped up by a ticket holder from Elsinore, making them the country’s biggest-ever winner.
Lotto’s Millionaire Guarantee was established in its current format, with two prizes of 1 million kroner given away alongside every Saturday draw.
A man from Elsinore won the biggest Viking Lotto prize ever to be paid out in Denmark. He matched all the numbers to claim 206 million kroner.
The rules for Viking Lotto changed. The number of Viking balls was reduced from 8 to 5, improving the odds of winning the top prize. The maximum jackpot came down from €35 million (approximately 260 million kroner) to €25 million (185 million kroner).
Lotto was updated to create even bigger prizes. The minimum top prize was increased from 6 million kroner to 7 million kroner, while the cost of entry changed from 5 kroner to 6 kroner. It was also announced that a Christmas Raffle would be held on the first Saturday after Christmas Eve every year, guaranteeing that 12 players would win 1 million kroner each.
Eurojackpot was updated, with a Tuesday draw introduced and a change to the game’s format. The matrix was changed from 5/50 and 2/10 to 5/50 and 2/12. The jackpot cap was also raised by €30 million, from €90 million to €120 million.
The largest Eurojackpot prize in history was won, and it went to a player from Denmark. The lucky ticket, sold at a Meny store in Blåvand, was the only one from across Europe to match all the numbers and was worth 759 million kroner (€120 million).