Prahova man collects 17.76 million lei Loto 6/49 jackpot, worth over 3.3 million euro

The prize and the winner

A man from Prahova County collected the category I prize from the Loto 6/49 draw of 22 October on Monday, 26 October, according to Loteria Română, which said he presented himself at its headquarters. The prize was 17,760,754.40 lei, which outlets converted to a little over 3.32 million euro. The winner is about 50 years old and says he has played Loto for more than 20 years. He has asked to remain anonymous, so his name and image are not published. He has played online for several years using the same numbers, which he says carry personal meaning, and before this draw he had won only small amounts.

How the ticket was played

The winning ticket cost 24.50 lei and was played through AmParcat.ro, a mobile app normally used to pay for parking. It carried three simple combinations on Loto 6/49. The winning numbers were 5, 17, 29, 7, 8 and 4. After collecting the money, the winner encouraged other players to keep playing, saying he had persevered and hoped to win, and said he intends to keep playing himself.

Tax and net payout

A 40% tax applies to the prize, so a large share stays with the state. HotNews reported that the tax comes to about 7.1 million lei, leaving the winner with about 10.65 million lei, or 2.1 million euro. Ziare.com put the net amount at 2.3 million euro and the state's share at 900,000 euro. The two figures differ, and the summary keeps each one attributed to its outlet rather than choosing between them.

Earlier category I wins in 2026

This was the third category I win in 2026 in Loto 6/49, according to Loteria Română. In February another Romanian won 22.9 million lei, about 4.2 million euro. In August, a 59-year-old woman from Oradea won 52.8 million lei on 13 August, which Adevarul described as the largest category I prize in the game's history. She had returned to the game only a month before, after five years away, and chose her six numbers at random without remembering them. The gross amounts of these wins are compared below.

February 202622.9

13 August 202652.8

22 October 202617.76

February 2026

22.9 million lei

13 August 2026

52.8 million lei

22 October 2026

17.76 million lei

Data from the article text

Timeline of the jackpots

The 2026 sequence runs from the February win through the August draw to the 22 October draw. The prize from that draw was collected on 26 October, four days after the draw took place.