Vietnam's new lottery ticket sales boom after first jackpot

A representative from the company said revenues rose in all six of the southern cities and provinces in which it operates, following its VND92 billion jackpot (over US$4 million).

The winner on October 16 took home the first jackpot since the debut of the American-style lottery in July. The company had held 39 draws before a winning ticket was declared.

Sales increased nearly 5% on October 17, the day after the jackpot win, compared to the previous week, and 67% on October 18.

A Vietlott representative (R) grants the jackpot prize certificate to the winner in Ho Chi Minh City on October 18. Photo courtesy of Vietlott

Ticket sales in Ho Chi Minh City increased 230% on October 18, followed by 170% in the neighboring Binh Duong Province and 117% rise in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

Nguyen Thanh Dam, deputy general director of Vietlott, said the company took in VND159 billion (US$7.13 million) in the first three months of its operations.

In January, Vietlott, or Vietnam Computerized Lottery One Member Limited Liability Company, signed an exclusive 18-year contract with Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya to launch the country's first computerized lottery.

Mega 6/45 players select six numbers from 1 to 45 and win the jackpot, starting at VND12 billion (US$538,000), by matching all six winning numbers from the draw.

The jackpot prize keeps growing until there is a winner. The odds of winning are extremely low, somewhere around one in 8.14 million.

The first winning ticket was sold in Ho Chi Minh City to a woman from Tra Vinh Province. Her father attended a ceremony at Vietlott office on her behalf, and received a bank transfer of US$3.7 million, on which he paid 10% income tax.

On October 19, the company drew numbers again. This time, there was no winner.