Hong Kong lottery’s biggest winners and jackpot draws revealed as city counts down to HK$100m prize draw
Hongkongers have started snapping up tickets for the much-anticipated Mark Six draw on March 1
Next week could see one lucky punter win one of the biggest Hong Kong lottery jackpots in history as the Marx Six celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The draw will see players hoping to win a whopping HK$100million prize, with HK$75million on offer in a separate ‘snowball’ draw.
Hongkongers started snapping up tickets on Tuesday for the much anticipated draws on March 1.
Meanwhile in September 2014, the lottery’s first division prize fund reached HK$164,492,500 and there were eventually two winning tickets – with each claiming HK$82,246,250.
Before this year, there have only been four draws with a possible first prize of at least HK$100million.
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In September 2014 alone, there were two draws with jackpots of HK$164,492,500 and HK$113,277,528, while September 2012 saw a rollover worth $123,979,675. A fourth mega draw, worth $133,528,650, was held in May 2011.
A betting shop in Mable Street, North Point, has been tipped as a source of “lucky” tickets after it sold two first-prize winning tickets for the previous four mega draws.
Announcing the 40th anniversary draw, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which runs the lottery, said: “Over the past 40 years, the Mark Six lottery has brought not only hope to countless Hong Kong people but also many benefits to society through the government’s lottery duty and Lotteries Fund.
“This is the theme of the third of four specially commissioned programmes commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Mark Six.”
In July 1997, to mark the official handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, a special ‘snowball’ draw saw 39 winning tickets scoop HK$705,770 each.
Since 2002, about 500 people have won the top prize, claiming more than HK$10,000,000 each.
Back in 2010, the cost of a lottery ticket doubled from HK$5 to HK$10, with lottery organisers claiming the increase was necessary to sustain it. The minimum first prize money subsequently rose from HK$5 million to HK$8 million.
