The long wait for the lucky winners of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Ultra Lotto game has come to an end with the announcement of two individuals who placed their bets in Albay and Eastern Samar.
PCSO in a social media post this Monday shared that two bettors won the jackpot prize of P1.180 billion (P1,180,622,508) on October 14, Sunday. Both of them will split the prize that would be subjected to a 20 percent tax.
The winning combinations released were 40-50-37-25-01-45. The bets were placed at SM City, Legazpi, Albay and in Borongan, Eastern Samar through self-picked methods.
It is when bettors personally pick their own numbers ranging from 1 to 58 instead of relying on the “lucky pick” method or when the computer randomly generates the combination numbers.
Both winners will have to claim their prize at the head office of PCSO in Mandaluyong City and present two valid identification cards.
The announcement, meanwhile, was met with varied reactions from Filipinos who advised the winners to use their lotto prizes wisely.
Some simply shared memes to note that their long-drawn anticipations have come to a close.
Others, however, expressed their disappointment that it was not them who were able to bag the much-coveted jackpot prize.
How the lotto reached its P1-billion mark
The first announcement of the lucky bettors in the Ultra Lotto game was on Feb. 16, 2018. PCSO noted that two individuals won the P332 million (P331,971,464) jackpot with the winning numbers of 15-31-28-25-42-11.
The jackpot prize returned to P49.5 million two days after. However, the draw didn’t produce a winner.
By May 13, it reached the P100-million mark with a jackpot prize of P103,138,604. No winners were announced.
On June 29, it reached the P200-million mark when the jackpot prize was announced at P207,237,172. Just like the previous draw, there were no winners for the six-number combination.
On July 29, the jackpot prize reached the P300-million mark when PCSO announced that a better would win P306,110,404. However, nobody won the prize.
On August 21, it reached the P400-million mark with the jackpot prize allotted at P406,162,932.
It broke records when PCSO announced that it has reached P500 million on September 4 with a jackpot prize of P503,330,392 due to the game having no winners.
Economist Edson Guido shared an infographic of how the phenomenon happened and called it “historic.”
By September 14, the coveted prize became P601,502,936. However, there will still no winners of Ultra Lotto. It broke another record when it reached P774,030,800 on September 28.
By October 5, it finally reached the P900-million mark when PCSO announced that the jackpot prize has grown to P903,290,152.
It hit an all-time high when the prize became P1 billion pesos on October 9. The winner would take home P1,026,264,340. Six days after, however, the government agency announced on Facebook that two betters have won P1,180,622,508.00.
It is the highest win in the entire history of the lottery. The previous win that had the highest prize was in 2010, when a lone bettor won P741 million or P741,176,323.20.
How the Ultra Lotto works
The Ultra Lotto is considered the PCSO’s biggest lottery game where bettors are given the chance to win a minimum cash prize of P50 million. It was introduced on Feb. 8, 2015.
The bettor must fill out a 6/58 form by choosing six numbers from the 1 to 58 range. He or she may also opt to select numbers via “lucky pick,” where the computer randomly generates figures for the bettor’s combination.
Draws are announced every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday with the winning combination numbers.
If the bettor shares the same six-number combination from the announcement in any order, he or she is considered a winner. Consolation prizes are also achieved when the bettor gets 5, 4 or 3 numbers correct out of the announced combination in any order.
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