Winning combination for largest lotto pot not a ‘lucky pick’
MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE) The mystery person who won Sunday's monster SuperLotto prize beat odds of one in 13 million. And the winning combination consisted of numbers that were not generated by any system but were probably personally meaningful to him or her.
"The winner used a maintained set of number combinations. Most probably these are numbers that are relevant to his or her life," Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) spokesperson Larry Cedro said in an interview.
All bets placed for the online lotto go to a central database of the PCSO and data such as number combinations also include whether such are standard play -- chosen by the bettor -- or a system-generated lucky pick or random play. These data could also be seen on the ticket, said Cedro.
As of Monday, the unnamed bettor had yet to claim the P249,005,120.40 jackpot prize and the PCSO still had no idea who he or she was, said Cedro.
He said the winner was known only to be from Luzon and that he or she placed his or her bet in one of the lotto outlets in the 2nd district of Quezon City.
The bettor hit the winning combination -- 47-32-1-46-15-29 -- after a series of 17 SuperLotto draws that began on January 17.
The SuperLotto is also known as the 6/49 game.
Cedro said the PCSO database showed that the winner used standard play in placing a bet -- that is, he or she bet on his/her own set of numbers instead of letting the system generate a combination for him (called random play or lucky pick).
Cedro said that based on the permutations of the 6/49 game, the lucky bettor had a one in 13 million chances of picking the winning combination.
But Cedro said that in the whole scheme of a lotto game, the use of standard or random play may not be a factor in hitting the jackpot since lotto was essentially a game of chance.
“It is a game of luck. The odds against you will always be high. But if it is meant for you, then you will win it,” said Cedro.
Previous to Sunday’s draw, the biggest jackpot prize won in the history of the country’s online lottery game was P202 million, which six people won on October 17, 2002.
Sunday’s ticket sales surged to P180,850,180, surpassing the previous record sales of P176 million.
Jackpot winners are given a year to claim their prize but are advised to claim it as early as possible from the PCSO office, according to Cedro.
He reminded the winning bettor that the lotto ticket was made of thermal paper which would be sensitive to extreme temperatures.
The winning bettor, Cedro said, must claim his or her prize before the deterioration of the ticket quality so that all pertinent data could still be read on the thermal paper.
“That ticket is essential to us in processing claims,” said Cedro.
Cedro added that it has been the PCSO’s policy to keep the winner’s identity a secret so as to ensure the security of the new multi-millionaire.
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