It is the first time for over 20 years that neither the jackpot winner nor runner-up has been from Guernsey.
The top prize this year was £493,320 with second place taking home £50,000. Five other winners have pocketed £10,000.
Jon Taylor, head of the lottery at the States Trading Group, said that recent records went back to 2003.
‘It’s the first time in that period that Jersey have won both the top prizes and so it may be even longer since it last happened,’ he said.
‘The prizes haven’t been claimed yet, so we will wait and see who has won.’
It’s the second year in a row the jackpot ticket has been sold in Jersey, however the previous six winners, stretching back to 2018, had come from Guernsey.
The top prize was up by £10,000 on last year and Mr Taylor said tickets were pretty much sold out by the time of the draw on Thursday evening.
‘We had a good sales period and general retail sales this year were up by around 5%, and last week in particular was crazy,’ he said.
‘Lots of people play, but they are probably not spending quite as much as they used to. Obviously the main beneficiaries are the charities and good causes that will access the funding in the new year.’
All the proceeds raised through both the Christmas Extravaganza game and traditional draw game are distributed to worthy causes throughout the Channel Islands by the Social Investment Fund in Guernsey and jointly between the Jersey Community Foundation, Association of Jersey Charities and Jersey Sport in Jersey.
The last Guernsey jackpot winners were a syndicate of 40 female golfers from La Grande Mare.
Incredibly they won again this year – but considerably less than the £500,000 they pocketed two years ago.
‘We won £2,000 this year,’ said syndicate member Helen Banks. ‘There are 53 of us this time, so that’s £37 each, minus the £10 we all paid for tickets.’
In 2023 each member had taken home £12,500.
‘What made the big win extra special was that it coincided with the last year of the old Grande Mare course and now we are spread over other clubs,’ she said.
‘That was wonderful, people paid for home improvements or holidays. This year I don’t think I’ve won enough to get the family to Herm.’
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