Late last year, 165 residents in the small village of Olmen, near Anterp in Belgium, divvied up their fat prize after winning big in the EuroMillions draw.

The total prize was €143 million and they won approximately €870,000 each after opting for the lump sum payout. This was the biggest group win ever recorded in Belgium.

The big win was achieved thanks, in no small part to local store owner Wim Van Broekhoven. He frequently organised a group drawing for the EuroMillions, with each entree contributing €15.

"Many winning customers were in disbelief at first," said van Broekhoven, who was understandably excited for all the winners.

"We have had quite a few new customers since the big win, but no one in the village holds any grudges against the winners. Everyone is genuinely happy for them.

"The winners are from all walks of life, but regardless everyone can use the money. It’s great to see. We are happy for them.”

One of the winners added: "I had already booked for New York. My dream was always to spend a few months in America, in the Grand Canyon and so on, and then hike, hike, hike." It goes without saying that they can perhaps finance their holiday - and even extend it - with their winnings.

The EuroMillions is a popular lotto around the world. You can bet on the most popular lottery results online nowadays - and don't have to be limited do only doing so in person.

The odds of winning the EuroMillions jackpot are better than some other global lotteries. For example, the jackpot odds for the EuroMillions are about one in 140 million to the US Powerball's one in 293 million in the same catgory.

For further context, note that the US MegaMillions jackpot odds are around one in 302 million - and Italy's SuperEnalotto's main prize odds are about one in 622 million.

Remembering this fictional Irish tale

In some ways, this win reminds one of the 1999 movie Waking Ned Devine, in which a winning lottery ticket changed the lives of many people in a rural Irish village.

A famous quote that cam out of that movie was from narrator Paul Vaughan, who said: "In 63 countries around the world, dozens of lottery machines spin hundreds of lottery balls. It takes seconds for the winning numbers to be selected and seconds for the losers to realize they've lost. But for the winners, it is an event that will undoubtedly change their lives forever."

Big win for small village in Spain

The Belgium win is also akin to the one that happened in Spain several years ago. It was in 2006, when the village of Soria won the El Gordo jackpot in the country's Christmas lottery. El Gordo, in case you didn't know, directly translates to the fat one. Fat, indeed, was the jackpot sum. 

"I don't know what everybody is going to do with the money," Soria mayor Jose Maria Garcia said at the time. "We'll try not to start arguing."