bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Business Insider

Government officials in the Philippines are calling for a probe into a Grand Lotto outcome that saw hundreds of people win a jackpot worth 236 million peso, or around US$4 million.
Participants in the Grand Lotto select six numbers ranging from one to 55, and all six numbers have to match those drawn by the lottery operator.
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the lottery organisers, announced that 433 people had won the lottery held on October 1. Each of the winners is set to win nearly US$10,000.
That’s the highest number of people to have ever won the Philippines’ Grand Lotto top prize.
All winning numbers were multiples of nine: nine, 18, 27, 36, 45, and 54.
“I’ve always been betting on the pattern 9, pattern 8, pattern 7 and pattern 6 for many years, and I am thankful that this time, I won,” one unnamed winner who was interviewed by the lottery agency said.
Singapore jails woman who left Covid quarantine to claim lottery winnings
But Terence Tao, a maths professor from the University of California, Los Angeles, said that this pattern of winning numbers is rare “for any single lottery”.
The outcome also drew scepticism from government officials. Aquilino Pimentel III, the Philippines’ senate minority leader, asked for a probe into the draw and described the event as “strange and unusual”.
“These lotto games are authorised by the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games.”
Lottery officials were quick to defend the results. Melquiades Robles, the general manager of the sweepstakes office, told Bloomberg there was nothing irregular with the results. People tend to cling to their chosen numbers and bet on the same combinations over and over, he added.
In a Facebook post congratulating the winners on October 3, Robles wrote: “Lottery is a game of chance, nothing is definite and it is uncontrollable. To the 433 new jackpot winners, it pays to be loyal.”


The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office declined a request to comment.
The news also caused a stir on social media. One person took to Twitter to comment on the odds. “1 bettor has a 1-in-40 million chance of winning. 433 bettors just beat those odds,” tweeted one.
Others weighed in with disbelief. An op-ed columnist at the Phil Biz News tweeted on the matter, saying: “What a joke – just like the jokes running the organisation”, wrote another.
“Was it just Chance or Intentional?” questioned one person in a series of tweets on October 4.
Read the original article on Business Insider


If Trump wants a deal with China, he must rein in US allies in Asia

After key official’s death, can Philippines’ flood-control probe still deliver answers?

Asia’s year of costly climate disasters spurs calls for ‘decisive action’

As the Michelin Guide arrives in the Philippines, could it be Filipino cuisine’s time to shine?

The Philippines

Philippines ‘strange’ lottery jackpot that saw 433 winners split US$4 million

Suspicion surrounds an unusual Grand Lotto outcome that saw hundreds of people in the Philippines win a jackpot worth US$4 million. Photo: Bloomberg

Couple arrested over seizure of 16,000 Hong Kong Mark Six lottery tickets destined for illegal sale in Macau and mainland

Evidence seized by customs officers as part of an investigation launched after thousands of Mark Six lottery tickets were impounded from a cargo ship in Hong Kong waters. Photo: May Tse.

Wong Ching-fu, a divisional commander in customs, announces two arrests have been made in connection with last week’s seizure of thousands of Mark Six lottery tickets from a ship in Hong Kong waters. Photo: May Tse

600 of 16,000 smuggled Mark Six lottery tickets seized by Hong Kong customs end up winning HK$70,000 in total

About 16,000 Mark Six lottery tickets were found aboard a cargo vessel last week. Photo: Jelly Tse

Seized Mark Six lottery tickets in a cargo vessel. Photo: Handout 

Coronavirus: Hong Kong chef, 35, revealed as winner of HK$10.8 million flat in vaccination lottery

The winner of the flat that was given away in a bid to boost Hong Kong’s vaccination drive. Photo: Handout

A 35-year-old chef surname Lee has won a HK$10.8 million (US$1.4 million) flat at the Grand Central project in Kwun Tong, sponsored by Sino Groupâs philanthropic arm â the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation â and developer Chinese Estates Holdings.Â  Photo: Handout

Exterior of Grand Central in Kwun Tong. 28MAY21 SCMP / Edmond So

Mexico to give away ‘El Chapo’ safe house in lottery

One of the properties that was interconnected by tunnels in the drainage system that drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman used to evade authorities in Culiacan, Mexico. Photo: AP

epa09259985 (FILE) - El Chapo's wife Emma Coronel Aispuro arrives for the continuation of the trial of her husband Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman at United States Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 11 February 2019 (reissued 10 June 2021). Coronel Aispuro, wife of the Sinaloa drug cartel kingpin Guzman, on 10 June 2021 pleaded guilty in a US federal court to drug trafficking charges. EPA-EFE/JOHN TAGGART

A customer points at lottery ticket he wants to buy in Mexico City, Monday, Sept. 13, 2021. Mexico´s lottery is giving away as prizes property seized from drug lords, among them a house belonging to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, on Wednesday´s draw. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

FILE - In this Jan. 19, 2017 file photo provided U.S. law enforcement, authorities escort Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, center, from a plane in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. On Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, Guzman's attorneys filed an appeal to his U.S. conspiracy conviction. They cited the judges rulings that allowed a jury to hear faulty evidence at his trial, as well as reports that before reaching a guilty verdict, some jurors sought out news accounts about sex abuse allegations against him that were barred from the trial. (U.S. law enforcement via AP, File)

Are Hong Kong vaccine lottery prizes worth the price in loss of data privacy?

A woman looks at her phone a she enters the community vaccination centre at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre in Hong Kong’s Sai Ying Pun district on July 17. Photo: Felix Wong

News

Asia

Southeast Asia


All winning numbers were multiples of 9, which is rare ‘for any single lottery’ according to a maths professor
Aquilino Pimentel III, the Philippines’ senate minority leader, has asked for a probe into the draw



All winning numbers were multiples of 9, which is rare ‘for any single lottery’ according to a maths professor. Senate minority leader, Aquilino Pimentel III, has asked for a probe into the draw.


Crime