Danske Spil makes 229 millionaires in 2019

Denmark's state-controlled gaming operator Danske Spil has announced that a record number of customers became millionaires by playing its games in 2019.

Some 229 Danish players became millionaires over the past year, the majority of which were through Danske Spil’s Lotto product, with 154 customers winning major prizes – the highest number of winners in a single year.

A total of 104 players won the Millionaire Guarantee, where two players every week can win DKK1m (£113,209/€133,817/$147,497) each without having to match any numbers in the main draw.

Danske Spil noted that the two biggest Lotto winners were in Copenhagen, both winning in excess of DKK20m.

Meanwhile, 30 people won the Eurojackpot, while four people scooped the main prize in the VikingLotto and three people won big with the Joker game.

Elsewhere, nine people became millionaires by playing keno, while 16 players won major prizes on Danske Spil’s various scratchcard games.

In terms of Danke Spil’s Tips sports betting offering, 13 people won more than DKK1m on individual bets. One player scooped DKK1.9m in winnings from a DKK480 wager on horse racing. 

Last September, Danske Spil reported year-on-year drop in gross gaming income in the first half of the year, primarily due to its decision to divest its stake in games development studio CEGO.

Gross gaming revenue for the six months to 30 June, 2019 totalled DKK2.49bn, down from DKK2.54m in the same period last year.

Rising costs also the operator's profit decline, with profit before tax down from DKK1.16bn to DKK1.05bn, while net profit fell from DKK928.0m to DKK872.8m.