You will never guess what Hungarians did during the peak of the pandemic

Photo: facebook.com/bkkbudapest/

Hungary’s population did not lose faith in good luck during the coronavirus epidemic, evidenced by the fact that by the end of 2020, Hungarians brought a record-breaking amount of gaming tax to the state during the toughest months of the pandemic.

According to last year’s data of the Hungarian State Treasury, since 2012, there has not been as much gaming tax revenue in the budget as in 2020.

In November, it was EUR 12.2 million (~HUF 4.4 billion), and in December, it was EUR 10.8 million (~HUF 3.9 billion).

This is quite surprising as the number of Hungarian infections reached its peak in the last months of the year.

As a result of Hungary’s epidemiological measures, lotteries and casinos can stay open until 7 pm. However, it seems that the shortened opening hours did not discourage Hungarians from trying their luck. Furthermore, since last year, lottery tickets can also be bought online, reported 444.hu.

Hungarian news portal Mfor.hu examined whether there was a significant accumulation in the lottery prize at the end of last year, which could have resulted in the outstanding gaming revenue. One explanation might be the main prize of EUR 10.8 million (~HUF 3.9 billion) that was taken home a few days before Christmas, before which the jackpot accumulated for 21 weeks. The second-largest amount was won in March; the total hit reached EUR 17.7 million (~HUF 6.4 billion). An additional explanation might be that sporting events were not yet cancelled during the second wave of the pandemic, so there was plenty to bet on in the autumn months. Accordingly, within the period of 7-13 September, Tippmixpro achieved its highest weekly result ever since its launch in 2013.