Christmas came early for a Larnaca resident over the weekend as his €50 Joker lottery ticket hit the right numbers which netted him €8,773,087.

The lucky ticket was purchased at an OPAP shop and revealed as the winner on Sunday’s draw after having guessed the 5+1 numbers correctly.

Agathi Mannaridou, OPAP’s marketing director, described the winner as a family man who “has a need for the money”, in comments to Phileleftheros.

She explained that the winner has already approached OPAP’s central offices and will take home €7.2m, with about €1.8m going to the finance ministry in tax.

While Sunday’s €8.7m pot is impressive, it is understood that the highest amount ever collected by a single winner was over €16m in 2017. Following 16 consecutive jackpots on Joker, the Limassol resident guessed the 5+1 numbers correctly, winning some €16.4m by paying just €3.

The previous record was €19.2m shared by two lucky winners. In November 2014, Joker again paid €18.4m to two winners.