4 consecutive lotto winners claim prizes

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office says the chances of hitting the Grand Lotto 6/55 six-digit combination is 1 in 28.99 million. But this month alone, four persons have beaten those odds and claimed their prizes.

PCSO media coordinator Joseph Muego told the Inquirer that this month’s four Grand Lotto winners claimed their prizes in the past two weeks. Three of them were retirees.

This millionaires’ month started with the September 12 Grand Lotto draw, which yielded two winners for the P299,897,496 jackpot, the second highest prize in the national lottery since January. One winner turned out to be a 52-year-old jeepney driver from Bataan; the other was a 76-year-old female retiree from Southern Leyte.

The driver claimed his share of the prize on September 13, meaning to use it on a house and lot and the education of his three kids; while the retiree got her share on September 19, meaning to use it for her family as well as donations to the local Church and for out-of-school youths.

Both winners had drawn up the winning combination of 25-52-26-05-49-17 from their loved ones’ birthdays and ages. The driver had been betting for 16 years; the retiree for 10.

The Grand Lotto jackpot, which had reverted back to the minimum guaranteed amount of P30 million, was won again at the following draw on Sept. 15. The solo winner was once again female, and once again from Bataan. The 58-year-old housewife  claimed her prize on September 17.

She told PCSO officials her family would use the money to finally buy a car, and go abroad.

The winning combination 43-45-17-15-11-04 had been her “pet” combination since she started betting in 2008, Muego said.

No sooner had the dust settled when the Grand Lotto jackpot prize, still at the P30-million minimum, was won again in the next draw on September 17. The 62-year-old solo winner was again a retiree, this time from Batangas. He had been betting since 1995, but he drew up the winning combination of 47-08-24-28-26-14 randomly. He picked up his prize on September 20.

The Grand Lotto has been won five times this year alone, by seven lucky bettors, the first by two winners in February and the second by a solo winner in July.

Muego said that since he started with the PCSO in 2008, this is the first time he’s experienced a series of wins in the Grand Lotto game.

This week has also proven lucky for the other lotto games. On Friday, a lone winner who bought a ticket in an outlet in Naga, Camarines Sur, hit the Megalotto 6/45 combination 10-26-07-45-17-14, for a P24,901,660.80 prize.

Only a day before, a lone winner from an outlet in Lipa, Batangas also won the Super Lotto 6/49 jackpot of 102,728,466.00, after hitting the winning combination 22-11-17-23-43-12.