Lotto outlet sales down amid cabbie’s P9M win

DESPITE a taxi driver’s stroke of luck in winning the P9 million lotto prize last June 5, sales for the 6/49 lotto draw of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) outlets like that in barangay Sambag I in Cebu City went down.

Albert Laraga, a lotto outlet employee for eight years, said the PCSO’s decision to change their dividend structure last May, resulted in lower sales for the 6/49, 6/45, 6/42 and 6/55 draws.

The new PCSO policy divides the winning amount based on the number of winning bettors.

“Others no longer want to buy because their money will be divided among many persons who had won,” Laraga said.

Most customers buy suertres or the three digit numbers because the winners don’t have to divide the amount of money they won.

As early as 11 a.m. yesterday, the suertres draw already closed which dismayed many ticket buyers.

Among those who failed to place a bet was Sergio Detalla, a 51-year-old cook of Manang’s Canteen near the lotto station.

A bettor for five years, Detalla said he bets P10 to P20 once a week on the suertres draw. He said he’s been maintaining a certain number combination for five years.

“Who knows, I may just win it,” Detalla said.

Another bettor, 59-year-old Danilo Montemon of barangay Sambag I, places bets twice or thrice a week, a habit for the past two years.

Montemon said he won’t bet on the six digits draw because it’s very difficult to win it given the odds. Correspondent Christine Emily L. Pantaleon