LIST: Biggest lotto jackpots won in PH

MANILA, Philippines – Trying one’s luck by betting on lotto draws has long been a part of Filipino culture.

As of Tuesday, October 2, Filipinos continued to flock lotto outlets as the Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot prize hit P800-million during the draw last September 30. 

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) considers this as its biggest and richest draw to date.

While the chances of winning the jackpot are slim (one in 40,475,358 in the Ultra Lotto), several lucky players have tried their luck and succeeded – bringing home hundreds of millions from lotto games. 

Need a little inspiration? Here is a rundown of the biggest jackpot prizes won in recent years:

2010

P741-million

After several weeks of suspense over the piling jackpot prize, a lone bettor from Olongapo City, Zambales, became P741,176,323.20 richer on November 29, 2010, for getting the right combination of 11-16-42-47-31-37 in the Grand Lotto 6/55.

This was the biggest jackpot prize recorded so far in the history of PCSO.

The winner was a 60-year-old Filipino male residing in New York, who bought the ticket at Royal Duty Free Mall in Subic, Olongapo a day before the draw. The prize was claimed in December that year.

The Grand Lotto began since May that year. According to then PCSO chair Margarita Juico, the jackpot prize boosted ticket sales. On the final draw night alone, sales for the Grand Lotto draw reached P266 million.

2011

P356-million

On June 1, 2011, the life of a barangay tanod (village security volunteer) from Las Piñas changed overnight after he won the Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot prized at P356,552,917.20. This was the second biggest jackpot won after the P741-million jackpot hit in 2010. 

According to PCSO, the man paid only P20 for a single ticket and entered with the winning combination 5-9-19-26-30-45. The numbers were taken from the man’s wedding anniversary and his children’s birthdays.

2012

P300-million

During the February 23 draw, two winners shared the Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot prize of P300,150.554.40 after picking the winning combination of 10-20-11-16-28-14. The winners, a 72-year-old retiree from Southern Leyte and a 37-year-old factory worker from Tanay, Rizal, both went home with P150.2 million each.

P137 million

A lucky player from Cabanatuan City won the P136,855,753.28 jackpot of the Grand Lotto Wednesday draw held on May 9, 2012. Shelling out P140 for tickets, the bettor played the combination12-8-45-53-41-55  for the win. 

P164 million

PCSO announced on July 4, 2012 that a lone bettor from Sorsogon bagged P163,921,759.20 during the Grand Lotto 6/55 Wednesday draw. The winner played with the numbers 36-26-10-49-32-37. He was the 4th player to win more than P100 million jackpot in the Grand Lotto category.

P300 million

A 72-year-old retiree from Southern Leyte and a 52-year-old driver from Bataan shared the Grand Lotto jackpot prize of P299,897,496 back in September 12, 2012. Both players got the winning numbers 25-52-26-5-49-17.

P103-million

A solo winner from Lipa, Batangas, took home P102,947,800 after joining the Super Lotto 6/49 Thursday draw on September 20, 2012. The winning combination was 22-11-17-23-43-12. 42 others won P56,000 each as consolation for getting 5 digits right.

2013

P132-million

A 72-year-old retiree hit the P132 million jackpot on the Grand Lotto 6/55 draw in April 2013. The winner from Cainta, Rizal got the winning combination 07-27-48-53-11-3. According to an Inquirer report, the winner had began betting since 1995.

P179-million

On July 2013, a lone lotto player from Pangasinan bagged an estimated P178.8 million jackpot. The Grand Lotto winner played with the winning combination 09-21-43-35-54-12.

P148-million

A lone bettor from Binondo hit his luck in November 2013 after getting the right 6-digit Grand Lotto winning combination of 26-47-50-48-28-55, instantly earning P148,271,384. 10 other players won P200,000 in the same draw for getting 5 digits correctly.

2014

P155-million

According to reports, a 26-year-old sari-sari store owner from Muntinlupa won the Grand Lotto pot of about P155 million on January 2014. The man entrusted his fate to his family’s birth dates and ages, bought a P60 ticket and got the winning combination of 02-38-32-10-08-03.

2015

P274-million

The odds were in the favor of a lone bettor from Las Piñas, as he guessed the winning combination for the Grand Lotto 6/55 Saturday draw on June 20, 2015. The winner won a total of P274,176,956. According to PCSO, there was a one-in-29.9 million chance of winning, but the bettor managed to hit the numbers 35-01-08-27-30-06 correctly.

2016

P195-million

A lucky man from Quezon City won the Ultra Lotto 6/58 jackpot prize of P194,605,848 on July 31, 2016. The winning combination was 20-55-14-22-18-30. Another bettor from Cavite won on the 6/45 Mega Lotto jackpot on the same night, earning the P31 million jackpot prize.

P273-million

On August 1, 2016, a solo bettor from Cebu hit the winning Grand Lotto 6/55 combination 13-35-24-09-06-53, earning a total of P272,868,832.

2017

P286-million

3 lucky bettors from Rizal, Caloocan, and Isabela shared the P286,007,372 jackpot for correctly guessing the Ultra Lotto combination 10-21-23-06-27-09. Aside from them, at least 78 other bettors won a consolation prize of P24,000 each for getting 5 digits right during the Wednesday draw on March 29, 2017.

P257-million

Two bettors managed to guess the winning Ultra Lotto combination 03-27-17-12-20-06 on September 6, 2017. According to PCSO, the winning tickets were bought from lotto outlets in Pasay City and Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija. The winners shared an estimated jackpot of P256.8 million.

2018

P332-million

Prior to the current P809-million jackpot prize, the last Ultra Lotto jackpot was won by two bettors last February 16, with the winning combination being 15-31-28-25-42-11. The winners shared a jackpot prize of P331,971,464.– Rappler.com