[英语阅读]杰克逊辞世日期成圣诞彩票热门

Jackson death date popular in Spain's Christmas lottery

据西班牙一家彩票销售网站称，代表“流行天王”迈克尔•杰克逊辞世日期（2009年6月25日）的数字组合25609，成为今年圣诞彩票“大胖子”最热门的号码。此外，数字组合66666因其“神秘和魔幻色彩”一如既往地受到人们追捧。每年的12月22日是圣诞彩票“大胖子”的开奖仪式，许多人会准时守在电视机前观看摇奖过程。圣诞彩票的每一个中奖号码和奖金数额都是由首都马德里的小学生唱出来的。西班牙圣诞彩票的奖金总额很高，堪称“全球最有钱”彩票。去年西班牙圣诞彩票奖金总额超过20亿欧元(约合29亿美元)，是1995年奖金总额的两倍。

Spaniards hope ticket number 25609, the day pop star Michael Jackson died, is a winner in their annual Christmas lottery "The Fat One" which is billed as the world's richest, a website said.

Spaniards hope ticket number 25609, the day pop star Michael Jackson died, is a winner in their annual Christmas lottery "The Fat One" which is billed as the world's richest, a website said.

The ticket, corresponding to June 25, 2009, "is one of the most requested" this year, according to a statement from Ventura24.es, a website for lottery ticket sales.

The combination 66666 "charged with superstitious and demoniac symbolism", like every year is also a very popular choice, said the statement.

"The Fat One" -- "El Gordo" in Spanish - is a national institution, with millions glued to their television screens on December 22 watching the old-fashioned ritual of schoolchildren chanting in Gregorian-style the numbers and prize amounts.

According to national statistics, 80 percent of Spaniards play "El Gordo", using half their annual lottery spending on the festive draw.

The Spanish lottery gave out over two billion euros (2.9 billion dollars) in prize money last year, nearly twice the amount distributed in 1995.

Although other draws around the world have bigger individual top prizes, lottery experts rank "El Gordo" as the world's richest lottery for the total sum paid out.