Local firm to launch lottery pool that can win US jackpot

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A local marketing company here is about to launch a lottery pool to give Filipino aficionados a chance to win the Mega Millions lottery jackpot in the United States.

"We believe that the lottery pool is a good concept. That is why we are bringing it out of the woodwork again," said Manny Quisumbing, president of Smart Marketing Concepts Inc. (SMCI).

SMCI was the first company in the Philippines to introduce the lottery pool as a network marketing program back in 1997.

However, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) cautioned the public yesterday against participating in a pooling system designed to collect bets for lotteries conducted abroad.

Quisumbing’s company has tied up with the New Jersey-based company WMM Marketing Inc. LLC that operates the US Mega Millions Lottery.

WMM operates in at least 20 states and the Mega Millions Lottery is considered the biggest game in the US, if not in the world, according to Quisumbing.

"SMCI chose the Mega Millions lottery because it starts with $10 million prize (P500 million) and could go as high as $200 million (P10 billion) in jackpot prize," he said, adding that "we are going for the ‘great white shark of lottery in the world.’"

Quisumbing noted that only last week, one person won a record jackpot of $275 million (P14 billion).

"But the odds of hitting the jackpot could be astronomical and one way of fighting the odds is by having a lottery pool," he said.

SMCI had signed an agreement with WMM to help recruit lotto aficionados not only in the Philippines but also around the world.

SMCI accountant Rio Lao, based in this city, said the company "is now setting up the mechanics of organizing a lottery pool that will join the coming $200 US Mega Lottery to be held next month."

An individual can join the lottery pool by putting up at least P5,000, which will be pooled with the money put up by other participants.

The P5,000 placed in the pool is good for one year, regardless of the number of draws in the Mega Lottery, Lao said.

However, SMCI will choose the number combinations based on — as local Filipino bettors say — "probables" or combinations believed to have the highest chances of winning.

‘Highly questionable’

Lawyer Lauro Patiag, manager of PCSO’s legal department, said pooling bets for lotteries in other countries is "highly questionable" because it did not pass through the PCSO.

"Technically, they are operating within the Philippines. Although the actual draw is done abroad, they are collecting bets here. It’s not authorized," he said.

Patiag urged Filipinos not to fall prey to this scheme since there would be no "audit trail" for their bets. At present, only the PCSO is authorized to conduct lotteries in the country.

He said that while only bet collection will be done here, it already has some "characteristics of lottery" and it should have gone through the PCSO.

Patiag said that four years ago, a company offered to conduct a similar operation but this did not materialize.

"It’s already happening informally. But this is mostly among relatives. Those who have relatives abroad would sometimes pool their bets," he said.