Calls for lottery to face inquiry as highest number of people win jackpot

There have been calls for an investigation after a record number of people hit the jackpot in a lottery draw in the Philippines. 

Last weekend’s Grand Lotto had a top prize of 236m peso (£3.5m/$4m), but when the numbers were drawn and claimants came forward, suspicions were raised. 

Philippines senate minority leader Koko Pimentel called for an inquiry into the ‘suspicious’ results.

The lottery’s numbers run from one to 55, with players selecting six to enter the draw. Those who are lucky enough to match six numbers will win the jackpot - fairly straightforward, right? 

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)

But when last weekend's lucky numbers rolled out, they were all multiples of nine - 9, 18, 27, 36, 45 and 54. 

And, somewhat incredibly, a whopping 433 people hit the jackpot after matching all six of their numbers with the winning numbers. 

Pimentel said: "These lotto games are authorised by the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games.”

But Melquiades Robles, general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), reassured people that the lottery couldn’t be rigged and the results were legit. 

He claimed that the reason the number of winners was so high could be because people who played tended to choose numbers that ran in a sequence and that lots of people remained ‘loyal’ to their picks over the years. 

Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)

Robles told a press conference: "Many have held on to their numbers. It's not only good to be loyal to your wives and husbands, it's also good to be loyal to your numbers.”

The Office also shared shots of happy punters going to collect their winnings in Mandaluyong city. 

One winner appeared to confirm what Robles said at the press conference, revealing they had been betting on number sequences for years. 

They said: "I've been betting on pattern nine, pattern eight, pattern seven and pattern six for many years and I'm thankful I just won.” 

Although a run of numbers like the ones pulled out last weekend may seem unusual, a maths professor told the BBC that it’s ‘not surprising’ to see given the number of similar lottery draws that take place across the world every single day. 

Terence Tao, from University of California, Los Angeles, told the news outlet: "There are hundreds of lotteries every day around the world, and statistically it would not be surprising that every few decades, one of these lotteries would exhibit an unusual pattern.

"It's similar to how in any given hand of poker it would be unlikely to draw a straight flush, but if one looks at hundreds of thousands of hands at once then it actually becomes quite likely that a straight flush would be drawn.”

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