Some towns in Italy decided to invest municipal funds in buying a few lottery tickets - in the hope of resolving their very own economic crisis with a stroke of luck.
The Italian jackpot lottery has hit the record high of 116 million euros after no winner was found for 78 consecutive draws. Such a huge figure proved irresistible for mayor Antonio Pizzigallo, that got through a town motion to invest 5 euros to buy lottery tickets.
Although the debate raged on about the improbability of winning, thus making even the five euros simply another waste of the towns already limited resources, the attraction of 116 million euros and what it could do to the budget of Anguillara, in Lazio, won the argument.
But this is not the only Italian town to bet its future on winning the lottery. The town of Ficara in Messina has also invested, a far more respectable 115 euro. The Ficara city council already knows where it will invest the money - it will be spend on projects that are at a standstill due to a lack of funds and anything left over will be divided equally among the citizens on Ficara.
The next draw if programmed for the 4th of August - and you can bet that the towns of Anguillara and Ficara will be watching closely.