MANILA, Philippines — If you think 433 bettors winning the ₱236 million Grand Lotto jackpot is mind-blowing enough, wait until you hear this: One claimant showed up with two winning tickets.
This was the revelation of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) General Manager Melquiades Robles as the state-owned corporation began the distribution of the jackpot prize among the winners.
“I am sure now that the 433 [winners] are actually 432,” Robles told CNN Philippines on Monday.
Robles said the claimant had accidentally bet on the winning combination — 09-45-36-27-18-54 — twice.
He said he asked the claimant about having two tickets, and the claimant said in Filipino: “Just an accident. When I placed my bet, I made an accidentally press and so there were two tickets.”
The ₱236,091,188 jackpot for last Saturday night’s 6/55 Grand Lotto will still be divided by 433.
The bettor who had two winning tickets will bag more than ₱1 million pesos, while the rest became ₱545,245 richer.
In a PCSO advisory on Tuesday, Robles said PCSO had released 101 checks as of Monday, Oct. 3.
The extraordinary circumstance was met with skepticism from the public and even prompted calls for a Senate probe.
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