Lottery hongkong is one of the biggest lottery games in Asia. It’s regulated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which is the only authorized lottery operator in the territory. The game offers players a chance to win a huge prize by picking six numbers from 1 to 49. The lottery also offers a special “Snowball Draw” that has a larger jackpot. The lottery is available at retail outlets and online.
Last night’s Mark Six draw saw three winners and a record jackpot of about HK$100 million. That will bring HK$85 million in betting duty into the city’s coffers and HK$51 million for the charity trust, a spokesman for the lottery runner, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, said. The draw will surely have many people dreaming about what they would do with a big jackpot like that.
In addition to the thrice-weekly Mark Six draws, the Jockey Club holds special Mark Six “Snowball” draws during holidays and festivals like the Mid-Autumn Snowball Draws, Chinese New Year Snowball Draws, Summer Snowball Draws and Christmas Snowball Draws. In those special draws, a percentage of the total spend on the tickets is taken and put into a Snowball Pool which increases the jackpot for that particular draw.
During the economic slowdown, many China residents have been lured by the prospect of striking it rich in a short time, mainly due to sluggish wage growth and rising unemployment, analysts say. “Some people have a sense of urgency now because they are losing jobs and can’t find suitable work, so they grasp at the idea of getting rich quick,” one analyst told Reuters.
The Mark Six draws are televised live and attract millions of viewers, especially in the Greater China region. The jackpots are huge, but the odds of winning are small. There are several ways to increase your chances of winning, including purchasing multiple tickets.
In a bid to reduce counterfeiting, the HKJC has implemented a number of measures, including increasing security and monitoring the resale of tickets. This has resulted in a decline in the number of fake tickets being sold. However, a spokesman for the HKJC has emphasized that it is not possible to stop all illegal activity.
A married couple was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and smuggling after customs officers found 16,000 Mark Six lottery tickets in a shipment destined for sale in Macau and mainland China. The tickets were among HK$10 million worth of contraband that was intercepted by police on a cargo ship that was stopped in the waters off Black Point in Tuen Mun. Police also seized a quantity of cash and mobile phones. The two are now in custody at a police station on suspicion of money laundering and smuggling, Reuters reports.
Hong Kong lottery service provider REXLot Holdings has reported that it does not have sufficient cash resources to satisfy the HK$1.85 billion in bond redemption obligations that it is required to meet by Friday. The company says it is in talks with bondholders to secure time to complete an asset disposal that will generate enough cash to make the payments due.