Lotto jackpots hit P288 M

Christmas might come early for some lucky people if they hold the winning combinations to the biggest combined lotto jackpot to hit the country.

A total of P288 million, the largest collective prize for the 6/45 Megalotto and the SuperLotto 6/49 online games, will be drawn today and tomorrow, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) announced yesterday.

PCSO spokesman Larry Cedro said today’s SuperLotto prize is expected to reach a whopping P178 million. The Megalotto draw tomorrow is seen to hit P110 million after no one secured the winning combination – 09,23,02,36,14,35 – drawn Friday night.

“This is the biggest combined jackpot prizes since the PCSO launched its online lottery games in 1995,” Cedro told The STAR.

He said biggest jackpot on record is P249 million for the SuperLotto won by a 61-year-old construction worker from Quezon City.

According to experts, the odds of winning in the 6/49 lotto is 1 to 13 million while for 6/45, it’s 1 to 12 million.

Still, lotto fans are expected to patiently queue at lotto outlets nationwide for a shot at fate.

Lotto fans interviewed by The STAR said they do not mind the overwhelming odds. Time and again they bet on the same number combination, which they say represents significant events in their lives, in the hope of one day striking the jackpot.

It’s better than not taking any chance at all, they say.

“Lalabas ang number ko. Hindi ko lang alam kung kailan kaya tumataya ako (My number will eventually win. I don’t know when so I have to keep placing my bet),” a player at the Visayan Avenue outlet in Quezon City said.

Statistics at the PCSO showed that most of the more than 1,500 lotto millionaires have religiously maintained a number combination marking birthdays, death anniversaries, wedding and other dates important to them.