PCSO: 'No irregularity' in lotto draw with 433 jackpot winners

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said Sunday that the incidence of having 433 jackpot winners of its October 1, 2022 Grand Lotto draw was a “natural occurrence” and that there were no irregularities, although it is unprecedented.

According to PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles, the results of the Saturday draw came as a number of bettors held on to the number 9 —  considered to be a lucky number — and its multiples.

“Since this is a game of chance, there is no right, there is no wrong, alam niyo ‘yun. In this case nga, tinamaan nila ‘yun. Nag-pay off ‘yung kanilang loyalty, kaya nga lang marami talaga sila,” he said in a briefing.

(In a game of chance, there is no right or wrong bet, you know that. In this case they hit it, and their loyalty paid off, but there were a number of them.)

A total of 433 bettors won the PCSO’s Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot of P236.091 million on Saturday night, with the winning combination of 09-45-36-27-18-54.

Each bettor is expected to receive at least P500,000 gross for the winnings, subject to taxes. They are said to be dispersed across the country, from Metro Manila to areas such as Zamboanga.

Prior to the draw on Saturday evening, the PCSO said a number of bettors had continued to place bets on the first six multiples of the number nine, with 33 bets on September 20, and 264 bets on September 26.

“We have found nothing wrong. In fact it’s a natural occurrence na may mga nag-aalaga at may maraming nananalo kapag tinamaan ‘yun,” Robles said.

“Wala kaming nakikitang babaguhin doon and we are in fact pleased na marami ang nanalo, actually, lalo’t magpapasko,” he added.

(We have found nothing wrong with the draw and its result. In fact, it’s a natural occurrence that bettors maintain a number combination and a number of them win when the combination gets a hit. We do not see any changes in that and we are in fact pleased that there were a number of winners especially ahead of the Christmas season.)

According to University of the Philippines’ Institute of Mathematics Professor and OCTA Research Fellow Dr. Guido David, the probability that a bettor would hit six numbers out of the 55 is one out of 30 million.

“Baka naman may possibility dahil may pattern. Ito ay mas maraming pumusta sa ganitong sequence ng numbers dahil may pattern nga, so hindi naman natin sinasabing imposible,” he said in an interview on GMA Super Radyo DZBB on Sunday.

(There is a possibility because there is a pattern. There may be more bettors using this sequence of numbers because of the pattern, so we are not saying this is impossible.)

Having 400 winners simultaneously, however, David said that there was very minimal probability of this happening, as he said this would be less than one in every googol.

“Napakaliit ng probability na may 400 na manalo nang sabay sabay,” he said.

(There is a very little probability that there would be 400 winners at the same time.)

In a separate tweet on Monday, David said that the probability of having 433 winners would be one to 1.87e-1224 or one out of 1 followed by 1224 zeroes.

People want to know the probability of 433 6-55 winners. It is 1 to 1.87e-1224. That is 1 out of 1 followed by 1224 zeros. The age of the universe is 4.3e17 seconds (17 zeros). However, the winning combination, divisible by 9, could mean more people bet on it. #dzbb @DZAR1026 pic.twitter.com/N22G7BP43k

— Dr. Guido David (@iamguidodavid) October 3, 2022

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Sunday already flagged the recent results, and has called for an investigation on the matter, which Robles welcomed.

“I think the interest of the people are at stake and it’s part of their job to ensure that we are working right for the welfare of the people so that’s welcome,” he said.

“It’s very difficult, if not impossible to predict, kaya nga po may premyo. That is your prize for being lucky. The whole idea is you cannot predict it but if by chance ikaw ang nakapili nung number na ‘yan, you are handsomely rewarded,” Robles said.

(It’s very difficult, if not impossible to predict, that is why we have prizes. That is your prize for being lucky. The whole idea is you cannot predict it but if by chance you choose the numbers, you are handsomely rewarded.)

For its part, the Philippine Gaming Management Corp. — a private contractor of PCSO — said there is no chance for the system to be rigged, as the draw machine is separate.

Under its mandate, the PCSO serves as the country’s principal government agency for generating funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national charter.

Based on its charter, the agency’s net receipts are divided into three main areas — 55% for its prize fund, 30% for its charity fund, and 15% for its operating fund.

“Every time you bet or you play, you also help the charity. The PCSO, we are deluged ng maraming (by a lot of) requests for charity,” Robles said. —LBG/KG, GMA News