After failing to produce a winner after 39 draws, on Sunday, Vietnam’s new computerized lottery finally found its first jackpot recipient, according to an announcement by the country’s state-run lottery firm, Vietlott.
One lucky man identified as a farmer from Tra Vinh Province claimed his prize at Vietlott’s headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City on the same evening as the announcement was made. The initial prize of VND12 billion ($536,000) accumulated to Sunday’s jackpot of VND92, 030,182,500 (US$4.11 million) despite holding three draws per week fueling frustration among lottery players.
According to Tuoi Tre News, the lucky winner purchased the winning Mega 6/45 lottery ticket for VND 10k (45¢) on his way back home on Sunday morning. That evening while watching the lottery draw on television during dinner with his family, he discovered that he had the winning combination of numbers, 05-21-31-33-38-42. A random selection of the jackpot combination takes place three times a week and in the event no winner emerges, it rolls over into the following lottery period.
After the state takes its cut of 10 percent to cover personal income taxes, the man will receive approximately VND 83b ($3.7m), according to the report. Not too shabby considering salaries in the country are among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region. Sales are sure to soar considering the fact that unless they hold a foreign passport, Vietnamese citizens are forbidden to gamble at home at the country’s eight casinos and 43 slot parlors. The ban seriously limits resident’s gambling options. Attempts have been made in the past to lift the ban on local gambling but so far no notable progress has been made. To the contrary, earlier this year a national draft decree on the gaming industry was prepared by the central government. The draft reportedly repeated the stipulation that locals must not be allowed to gamble in any of Vietnam’s casinos, but was still under advisement.
Introduced in July, the computerized lottery ‘Mega 6/45’ was a result of cooperation between Vietlott and Malaysia’s Berjaya Corp, which in January was granted an investment license to be effective for 18 years for the operation of the lottery in Vietnam.
In addition to the jackpot winner, the first prize of VND10 million was claimed by 17 tickets, while the second prize of VND300,000 ($13.39) was claimed by 1,178 tickets and the third prize of VND30,000 ($1.34) was won by 20,388 tickets. The Mega 6/45 prize has now been reset to its original prize of VND12 billion.