Record €28.8M Jackpot Won: How Two Players Beat 24 Million-to-One Odds

On August 17, 2025, two players did what 24 million others could not: they matched all five numbers and the Joker number on the same draw. They split a €28.8 million jackpot, the largest in Greece Powerball history. The payouts are real, the winners were real, and one earned more than €14 million.

This is what winning the largest Joker jackpot looks like. It is also why you need to understand what you can actually win if you bet on Greece Powerball from South Africa.

The Winning Draw: August 17, 2025

The draw happened on a Tuesday evening in Greece. One winning ticket was bought in Palaio Faliro, a suburb of Athens, on a six-column system entry. The second came from Markopoulo, also bought as a full system bet. Both matched all six winning numbers on the same draw.

The Markopoulo winner also scored two second-tier prizes worth €100,000 each, meaning their system entry won multiple ways on a single ticket. Split 50-50 between the two winners, each player walked away with approximately €14.4 million before Greek withholding tax.

The Palaio Faliro winner had staked about €6 on their ticket. The Markopoulo winner had paid more for a system bet, but the system multiplied their wins. It is the kind of result that happens once every few years in a state lottery.

How the Jackpot Built Up

This payout did not appear from nowhere. According to reports, the jackpot had rolled over 45 consecutive times before the August 17 draw. Each rollover means the previous draw produced no jackpot winner, so the unclaimed prize money rolled forward to the next draw.

The OPAP Joker game has a legal minimum jackpot of €500,000. Below that floor, the money stays in the reserve fund. Once the jackpot exceeds the minimum, each rollover adds the unclaimed prize to the next draw, compounding the pot. Forty-five rollovers in a row is rare but not unprecedented in lotteries with the same mathematical odds as Joker.

By August 17, the pot had swollen to an historic €28.8 million. That drew enough tickets to finally produce two matching entries. Both winners shared the entire pool equally.

How This Compares to Previous Records

The previous record for a Joker jackpot was approximately €19 million. The August 2025 win exceeded it by nearly 50 percent, making it the single largest payout in the game's 28-year history.

OPAP, Greece's state lottery authority, publishes the results of every draw. You can verify the history in the Greece Powerball historical record, which documents every Joker draw since the game launched on 16 November 1997.

Why This Matters for Greek Ticket Holders

For players in Greece who hold real OPAP tickets, this result is proof that the game is not rigged or theoretical. The jackpot grows. Winners emerge. The odds are long-1 in 24,435,180 to match all six numbers-but two people did it on the same night in August 2025.

OPAP is a real, regulated institution. The winners were real people from named towns. The payout was confirmed by Greek media. If you hold an official ticket and hit the jackpot, you collect the entire prize pool (or half of it, if you share the win).

What You Actually Win from South Africa

Here is where the story changes for South African bettors.

You do not hold a real OPAP ticket. You place a fixed-odds bet in rands with a licensed South African bookmaker on which numbers OPAP will draw.

If your bet comes up, the bookmaker pays you a fixed amount at odds you saw before you staked. You win from the bookmaker's own funds, not from OPAP's prize pool. You cannot win the €28.8 million, because you were never in the Greek draw.

The upside is certainty. You know your maximum payout before you stake. A real lottery never tells you that-the jackpot rolls until it is claimed, and if many people win the same night, they split the pool. You have no ceiling.

YesPlay, our recommended South African sportsbook, caps a single fixed-odds bet at R2 million. That cap applies to all bets, so even if a jackpot combination hits, your payout will not exceed R2 million. This is not a limitation of South Africa-it is how fixed-odds bookmaking works globally. The bookmaker sets a maximum exposure.

The Prize Structure: What You Can Win

In Greece, OPAP pays across eight prize tiers based on how many of the five main numbers you match, and whether you catch the Joker.

Greek ticket holders at each level share that draw's allocated prize money. If four people match the 2nd tier on the same night, they split the 2nd-tier pool four ways.

From South Africa, you bet on specific combinations at fixed odds. The minimum stake on YesPlay is R1. You decide how many of the five main numbers to back, and you can add a Joker bet. Stakes start small, and the odds shift slightly over time based on betting volume.

Any way you bet settles independently. A single-number bet can win even if your four-number combination misses. Your payout appears in your account within the hour, usually, and there is no claim form.

The Draw Times in South Africa

OPAP draws at 22:00 Greek time on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

From late March to late October, that is 21:00 SAST in South Africa. From late October to late March, it shifts to 22:00 SAST. The draw time itself never moves; the difference is because Greece uses summer time and South Africa does not.

Set a reminder in your local time, or bookmark the Greece Powerball homepage to see the countdown to the next draw.

The Key Lesson

Two real people won €28.8 million on real OPAP tickets because they held official entries in the Greek draw. One spent about €6. The other paid more for a system entry that multiplied their wins across multiple combinations.

From South Africa, you cannot replicate that outcome. You can win a fixed-odds payout from a bookmaker, up to the bookmaker's cap. The odds of any combination you bet on are the same as the odds in Greece-the maths does not change. But you are not competing for a shared prize pool. You are not in the draw.

If you bet on Greece Powerball from South Africa, accept what you are actually doing: placing a fixed-odds bet for entertainment, with a known maximum payout and a known ceiling on your stake. Do not expect to win the €28.8 million or any future record jackpot. Do not confuse betting with ticket ownership.

If that frame makes sense for your budget, YesPlay is licensed to take your bets. If you want to explore your odds on the next draw, curated predictions and full historical results are free.

Frequently asked questions

Can I win the €28.8 million jackpot from South Africa?

No. The €28.8 million was won by holders of real OPAP tickets in Greece. You place a fixed-odds bet with a South African bookmaker, not an official ticket entry, so you are not in the Greek draw. Your maximum payout is capped at R2 million with YesPlay.

What is the difference between betting from South Africa and buying a real ticket in Greece?

A real Greek ticket enters you into OPAP's official draw and gives you a share of the actual prize pool. From South Africa, you place a fixed-odds bet with a bookmaker and receive a set payout if your numbers match. The bookmaker pays you, not OPAP. You know your maximum payout before you bet.

What are the actual odds I'm betting on?

The odds are the same as the Greek game: 1 in 24,435,180 for all five main numbers plus the Joker. Matching fewer numbers has better odds-1 in 53 for a single main number plus the Joker. The odds never change; what changes is the bookmaker's fixed payout for each combination.

Is the Greece Powerball jackpot always this high?

No. The €28.8 million was historic. OPAP's legal minimum jackpot is €500,000. After a draw produces a winner, the jackpot resets to the minimum, then rolls up from there. Most draws between €1 million and €5 million are normal.

Can I trust that the Greece Powerball draw is real?

Yes. OPAP is a state-regulated institution in Greece. Every draw is published and can be verified. The winners of the €28.8 million in August 2025 were confirmed by Greek media and OPAP. The draw is a real lottery with real winners.