Record-high Super 5 jackpot
Thousands dream of lucky strike
Tens of thousands of punters have swarmed Maltco lottery booths to buy tickets for tomorrow's Super 5 lottery, as the jackpot shoots up to a record Lm330,000.
All eyes will be on tomorrow's draw, as the popular lottery has eluded a winner for seven weeks.
A Maltco spokesman said the company expected an increase of some 30 per cent over normal ticket sales.
The jackpot used to be capped but since Maltco Lotteries took over the Lotto Department it was established that there would be no limit to the jackpot until it is won. The previous highest jackpot was Lm272,000 in June 1999.
Super 5 was launched in January 1990 with punters being asked to pick five numbers between 1 and 36. In April 2001, the range of numbers was increased to 42.
The lottery provides a minimum guaranteed prize fund of Lm40,000. Last week, 231 punters won Lm236 and 8,052 netted Lm10.
The Maltese are evidently not discouraged by the odds of winning - there is a one in 850,000 chance of coming up with the grand prize and the Super 5 lottery remains the most popular draw on the island, especially among the middle-aged.
People lined up at the Maltco offices in Valletta yesterday and the queues are expected to grow even longer today.
One elderly man walked out with Lm250 worth of tickets, another was seen carefully analysing a list of some 150 different combinations.
But who are the typical Super 5 punters?
"Everybody, from all walks of society, is buying tickets for this week's lottery but the vast majority are working class," one Maltco official told The Times.
A regular, who claimed he was about to lose his job, decided to double his stake this week. A young woman walked out with several tickets saying her office colleagues had pooled in to try and increase their chances.
Many lottery players gamble on the same numbers every week, with some punters selecting their numbers on the basis of key numbers such as birthdays and anniversaries.
An elderly woman who walked out of a Valletta booth clutching a long list of Super 5 numbers was optimistic that luck will be on her side this week. "I've been playing the lotto and the Super 5 for as long as I can remember. I've hardly ever won but I get this strange feeling I've played the right combination this week," she laughed.