Win the lottery, expect to become a millionaire, right? What if you have to share the winnings with 432 others?
That’s exactly what’s happened this week in the Philippines this weekend. The Grand Lotto draw had ₱236,091,188.40 up for grabs – that’s about US$4 million (NZ$7 million).
But the numbers that came out were all multiples of nine – 9, 18, 27, 36, 45 and 54 – and it seems Filipino gamblers aren’t a creative bunch, with 433 winners.
Instead of becoming millionaires, each will take home about US$9000 each, local media outlet ABS-CBN reported.
The draw doesn’t appear to have been rigged either.
“We have found nothing wrong,” a Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office spokesperson told the Manila Times. In fact, it’s a natural occurrence… We have no plans of changing anything and we are, in fact, happy that a lot of people won, especially with Christmas approaching.”
The bizarre draw saw more people win the ‘jackpot’ than the second division prize.
The results echoed a strange lottery draw in 2017 in New Zealand, which saw the numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 drawn, with a ‘Bonus ball’ of 1. In that draw, people who won the division 5 and 6 prizes received more money than those who won fourth division.
