Life's a lottery for punters who fail to claim Mark Six winnings

It takes more than good luck to win the Mark Six sometimes - a good memory also helps.

Unclaimed Mark Six wins amounted to HK$74 million last year, up 12 per cent from 2006, as hundreds of negligent winners failed to claim their lucky tickets.

There is still hope if a winning ticket is lost, according to the Jockey Club. Hopeful punters can claim the prize by recalling details about the winning ticket - numbers, time and location of purchase - and convincing betting centre staff that he or she is a real winner.

'We would verify the details and see if nobody else has laid claim to the same prize,' a club spokeswoman said.

When betting centre officers are convinced, they will advise the claimant to file an application and pay a HK$50 processing fee - which means any prize smaller than the fee will probably end up unclaimed.

In fact, 250 such applications were filed last year, up 8.6 per cent from 2006, and nearly all applicants successfully collected their cash.

'Only those who can recall convincing details are asked to file applications, so almost all applicants succeeded in the end,' the spokeswoman said.