That’s it Christmas is officially over, all the cream cakes and mince pies have been scoffed, the tinsel and fairy lights have been stuffed back into storage, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf are safely back in their reindeer stables, Santa’s taking it easy for the rest of the year – Elvis has finally left the building!

How do I know? Well yesterday (Friday Jan 6) saw Spain’s El Niño, the second most important draw in the Spanish lottery calendar and the lottery which officially marks the end of the Christmas holiday season drawn at the Falla Theatre in Cadiz and with 840 million Euros ($1 billion) in prize money up for grabs that’s one heck of a way to end the festivities!

The El Niño draw is little brother to the El Gordo (The Fat One) draw which was drawn two weeks ago; both games offer players a “fair shares for all” raffle, rather than a single jackpot lottery which actually encourages whole bunches of people to play in syndicates.

A full El Nino ticket (billete) is a sheet of ten smaller tickets (decimas), all with the same ticket number, decimas are typically separated and sold individually, when a player wins with one decima their share is one-tenth of the prize for that sheet.  The rest of the prize for that sheet goes to those who buy other decimos with the same ticket number.

Yesterday’s draw saw the first prize worth a total of 2 million Euros ($2.5 million) bagged by ticket number 71208 – all shares of the winning ticket were sold in the Spanish city of Soria. The second prize, which paid out 1 million Euros ($1.2 million), was taken by ticket number 92225, with shares sold in a number of places including Benidorm, Elche, Almeria, Oviedo and Barcelona.

Just in case you thought Spain’s lottery excitement was now all over until next Christmas then you might like to know that Spain’s National Lottery is running a Special Draw next Saturday Jan 14 and to whet your appetite the prize pot stands at a succulent 84 million Euros ($106,814,400); what’s more one in every three players is in with a winning chance and the very good news for you is you don’t even have to visit Spain to buy your ticket – just click the WinTrillions links and you’re in!

The police in Madrid, Spain are hunting for a gang of robbers who busted into a lottery outlet in the Moratalaz district of Madrid and stole a whole load of cash and lottery tickets. Although the exact amount of money and tickets stolen is not confirmed, Police believe it to be thousands.

The robbers broke into the lottery shop smashed their way through an office wall and used a thermal lance to burn a 6 inch hole in the safe and then made a quick exit with a large amount of Euros and a stash of lottery tickets, but not before starting a fire in a waste paper basket in the hope of covering their tracks. A thermal lance; my how times have changed; I always thought the quickest way to crack a safe was to “blow the bloody doors off”

The robbery came to light after fire fighters were called to deal with the blazing waste paper basket. Nobody has yet been arrested but the blaggers did leave behind a number of items, including a pick, screwdrivers and sunglasses.

This is the second time in a week that Madrid lottery outlets have been targeted; there was a failed attempt to rob the famous Dona Manolita lottery shop in Madrid; the would-be thieves were caught on surveillance cameras disarming the alarm system and trying to force the door, however they did not manage to break in.

Robbing lottery shops in Spain doesn’t come as any great surprise as the whole of Spain has been gripped by lottery fever, ever since the tickets for El Gordo del la Primitiva lottery first went on sale 8 weeks ago, particularly when there’s a mega $3,567,000,000 up for grabs and due to be drawn in just 2 days time.

There’s just time for you to get a slice of El Gordo action; but only if you move quickly. The easiest and safest way to do that is right here at WinTrillions; just follow the links and you’re in; what’s more you don’t ever have to go robbing lottery outlets in Spain to get hold of your ticket.

Could the A-Team; that group of ex USA Army Special Forces, wrongly convicted of a crime during the Vietnam War, who then fled to Los Angeles to work as fugitive soldiers of fortune, using their military training to fight oppression and injustice, now be lying low in the Northern Irish city of Belfast?

Is mechanical genius and overall hard-man B. A. Baracus, aka Mr T even now constructing some fiendish mechanical device using an empty baked bean can, a piece of galvanised chicken wire and an old rubber band, that will end world poverty, kick-start the global economy and bring peace and harmony to the whole of planet Earth?

Could this be the same Mr T known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle and his gold jewellery that has just has been confirmed as a £1,000,000 (US$1,570,000) winner in last Friday’s EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle and is using his win to blag the parts?

Does “Bad Attitude” Mr T the rough-tough fighter with one of the worst ever army conduct records who delights in punching officers have an alter-ego who’s quiet and shy, doesn’t seek any attention, avoids publicity and wishes to remain anonymous?

Could there actually be 2 Mr T’s sharing the same name? So many questions; so few answers!

Perhaps we’ll never know; however what I do know is, there is very definitely a Mr T living in Belfast who has indeed won £1 million in the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle; I also know that he is actually quiet and shy, doesn’t seek attention and wishes to remain entirely anonymous!

I also know that Mr T bought his ticket and became a millionaire without ever actually physically touching his winning ticket simply by playing the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle online. You too could become a millionaire by following the same plan, just click the links right here at WinTrillions and buy your tickets for the world’s biggest and richest lotteries. All you need to do is pick your numbers, tell us, we’ll send an agent straight down to a local lottery store and buy your ticket across the counter on your behalf; write your name across the ticket, send you a scanned copy, check your numbers, and let you know as soon as you’ve won – it couldn’t be easier! I love it when a plan comes together!

With only 8 weeks to go until 22 December, the countdown’s officially started to the world’s oldest, the world’s biggest, the world’s most exciting lottery raffle of the year. It’s the draw lottery fans everywhere call the “Fat One” aka Spain’s El Gordo de La Primitiva lottery – the world’s greatest lottery game! The doors are now open for business and tickets are on sale.

It’s not called the “Fat One” for nothing as this year’s prize fund is expected to top €2.5 billion – no it’s not a typo and your eyes haven’t deceived you it is very definitely a big, fat, juicy €2.5 BILLION! WOW – that might even be enough to pay off your credt card!

The draw is televised and regularly attracts TV audiences in excess of 20 million for the three hour programme and with a 1 in 3 chance of winning a prize it won’t come as any great shock to learn that Spanish residents are passionate about the “Fat One” and might help explain why 98% of their adult population buy a ticket. Not surprising then, that people queue for hours and hours to get their tickets – the good news is you too can muscle in on the El Gordo action even if you don’t live in Spain without once havng to stand in line.

As soon as we receive your El Gordo entry we’ll send a WinTrilions agent to buy your tickets on your behalf over the counter from a local store in Spain, print your name across every ticket, send you a scanned copy and e-mail you the results.

Just one note of caution – the “Fat One” is also the focus of attention by many scammers, rip-off merchants, tricksters and con-artists only too ready, willing and eager to take advantage of El Gordo’s big, fat, juicy €2.5 billion opportunity. Of course, the best risk free option of all, is to buy your lottery tickets right here at WinTrillions - the world’s largest online lottery website, with more lotto games, more rollovers and bigger jackpot prizes on offer than anywhere else. WinTrillions provides lottery fans with a safe, secure and trusted gateway to play the richest and most exciting government-licensed lotteries in the world.