Rare date reading sells out lotto tickets

Mere coincidence or a lucky sign?

A rare time and date sequence in yesterday’s lotto draw helped sell out the 1-2-3-4 digit combination of the lotto four-digit game.

At 2 minutes and 3 seconds past 1 a.m. yesterday, the number combination registered as 01:02:03/04-05-06, sending superstitious lotto players to betting stations nationwide to try their luck.

A teller at a lotto outlet along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City said as early as 10 a.m. yesterday, the 1-2-3-4 combination had sold out at all outlets across the country.

This reporter chanced upon a man who wanted to buy a ticket for the 1-2-3-4 combination but was told by the teller that the number was sold out.

"Kanina pa yan sold out, marami nag-maintain," the teller said.

The man, who was unable to place a bet and spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had dreamt of the combination and was sure it would win, but did not elaborate.

By early morning, text messages began circulating, saying: "At 2 minutes and 3 seconds past 1 a.m. this morning, the time and date registered as 01:02:03:04/05/06. that won’t happen again!"

This reporter checked with other lotto outlets and found people to be lining up for the 1-2-3-4 combination.

A P10 bet for the winning four-digit combination would net a guaranteed P30,000 prize.

The state-run lotto has become popular in the country after the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) began its online lottery game in 1995. This includes the games Lotto 6/42, Megalotto 6/45, Superlotto 6/49, Six Digit, Four Digit and Three Digit.

"The lotto was a big hit despite strong opposition from certain quarters. Its legality was questioned but the Supreme Court ruled that the new lottery was legal," said the PCSO on its website.

If no one hits the winning combination of numbers, jackpot prizes accumulate by several million pesos per week.

Past winners have said they bet regularly using specific number combinations thought to be auspicious, such as special dates and birthdays of their children.

Lotteries have been in existence in the Philippines since 1833, according to the PCSO website.

The national hero Jose Rizal once won P6,200 in a draw in 1892 while in exile on Dapitan. He gave the money to an educational project — a harbinger of how the lottery could later be used for altruistic ends.

Among the primary beneficiaries of the early lottery was the Philippine Tuberculosis Society. During the Commonwealth era President Manuel Quezon signed into law an act creating the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes. — Perseus Echeminada