Vietnam man wins nearly $2.8mn Vietlott jackpot, his 1,103rd prize

The Vietnam Computerized Lottery Company on Friday presented the prize to the man, identified as H., after verifying his ticket and personal information.

Under regulations, H. is required to pay more than VND7.1 billion ($272,488) in personal income tax in Quang Tri, where he registered to participate in the lottery.

The tax was calculated at 10 percent of the prize amount and deducted before the prize was paid.

After tax, H. will receive approximately VND64.7 billion ($2.5 million).

The winning ticket was purchased via Vietlott SMS, the lottery operator’s mobile platform.

H., who is originally from Quang Tri, currently lives and works in an industrial park in Dong Nai City, southern Vietnam.

He said he has been buying Vietlott’s lottery products for about 10 years.

Notably, the numbers that won him the $2.8 million jackpot were randomly generated by the system.

According to Vietlott, H. has won 1,103 prizes through the phone-based sales channel alone, including the latest jackpot.

His previous biggest wins were first prizes in Power 6/55 and Mega 6/45, worth VND40 million ($1,536) and VND10 million ($384), respectively.

H. said he usually buys four or five tickets a day, both at sales points and on his phone.

He lets the system randomly select numbers for most of his tickets. When a jackpot becomes particularly large, he buys additional number combinations based on the birth dates of family members.

Because he had won many times before, H. initially paid little attention to the message informing him of the latest result, thinking he had won another small prize.

It was only the following day, when a Vietlott representative called him, that he learned he had won the jackpot worth $2.8 million.

“I immediately told my wife. At first, she was very nervous and could not believe it was real. It was only when we saw the winning notification on my phone that we were certain that our family had won such a large prize,” H. said.

After receiving the prize, H. said he plans to continue with his current lifestyle and job for now. He and his wife will discuss how to use the money sensibly.