The whole of Catania celebrated Thursday night with cavalcades of cars and cascades of sparkling wine after someone in the Sicilian city landed a Superenalotto jackpot of more than 100 million euros, the biggest Italian lotto win ever.
Despite calls to emerge from anonymity and a plea from a leukemia sufferer, the winner will almost certainly stay undercover.
All that is known is that he or she placed their bet at a tobacco shop not far from the city centre which has been besieged with calls.
Even if the owner knew the winner, he would probably be paid off to keep mum.
Catania Mayor Raffaele Stancanelli voiced the hope that the win - only overshadowed on a world scale by a handful of US and European pots - did not go to a single individual.
''I hope it went to a group of betters from a poor part of the city. I hope it's a sign that the whole city can get back on its feet,'' he told reporters.
The win - exactly 100,765,197.30 euros - beat the previous Italian record, won in Milan in 2005, by 29 million euros.
The payout - the first top prize since April - cut the jackpot for the next Superenalotto on Saturday to 20 million euros.
But observers said they saw no sign of Italy's lotto fever - which consumer groups claim has ruined families - falling off.
