10 Facts About the $12m Hong Bao Draw on 22 Feb That S’poreans Should Know About

Last Updated on 2019-02-18 , 9:08 pm

22 February 2019 may yet prove to be the biggest day of one of our lives.

If one of us wins the Hong Bao Draw that is.

Else, it would just be another ordinary Friday, with dreaded work-Monday looming, and an all-too-quick weekend passing us by.

That said, here are 10 Facts about the $12m Hong Bao Draw on 22 February.

1. The Draw

The draw, like it has been for the last few years, will be taking place at Singapore Pools Building, 210 Middle Road, on 22 February 2019, 9:30 p.m.

According to my colleagues who have been there, it is said that western gnomes cart physical bet slips on eastern zodiac pigs in and around the building (Editor’s note: I, too, don’t understand wtf the writer is writing about, but it sounds huat so I’m leaving it in).

Their ceiling fan blades are purportedly made of gold too, and with every orbit of the fans’ blades, bedazzling light will hit your eyes, letting you see gold, literally (Editor’s note:I think he’s just drunk).

2. Lion Dance Performance

Singaporeans love their freebies right?

To help you get into the mood (and hopefully splash more cash), Singapore Pools is offering Lion Dance Performances at these venues below throughout 22 Feb.

If you happen to be around one of these outlets, feel free to pop by for the performance, bets not included.

Can’t see? Tap here to view the whole list.

3. Packs permutations

Just so you know and believe in “luck,” three kinds of “Lucky” packs will be sold for the draw.

These are:

While the $10 and $20 packs will be sold from 18 Feb onwards, the $228 pack is already and has been on sale since 25 January.

Additionally, the $228 packs contain tickets from outlets which have provided past winners. They are:

• 7-Eleven Eunos Crescent
• NTUC Fairprice Ang Mo Kio Hypermart
• NTUC Fairprice Serangoon Central Hypermart
• SPPL IMM
• SPPL Jurong West N5
• SPPL Livewire Marina Bay Sand
• SPPL Suntec City
• SPPL Tanjong Pagar
• Tong Aik Huat
• Wanrise Trading

You may reserve the pack from their website, which can then be collected from a listed outlet between 20 February to 21 February.

4. Previous Winning Entries

Speaking of winning entries, 2018’s Hong Bao Draw was split between 2 entries.

The numbers were 37, 40, 31, 24, 28, 49 and 29 being the additional number.

One winner won half of the total amount, and another was an iToto entry which was split among 28 shares.

In 2017, four winners shared the price.

5. Chances of winning this Toto

Suffice to say, it’s blardy little.

How little?

According to my colleague who has won it a total of zero times: “It’s not bad ar, chances are 1 in 14 million. Not bad considering how a 1 in 14 million chance is better than a 1 in 15 million chance right?”

Yes, because Math and Logic.

Here’s his article if you want to read his bullcrap.

6. TOTO Vs iTOTO

Now, for the uninitiated, Toto requires you to hit a minimum of 3 numbers and the more your hit, the bigger your reward is.

By extension of that, it pays to have more numbers on your ticket because that would mean more choices right?

Hence Toto bets are configured from System 6 to System 12, with the former costing 1 dollar and the latter costing $924.

Yes it pays to play with a higher percentage.

As a result, if you would like to maximize your chances of winning by acquiring a System 12 ticket without having to fork out $924, iTOTO is your go-to as it is basically ONE System-12 set of numbers split into 28 units for people to share in buying.

No, you do not have to know anyone else buying this iTOTO as the system will group 28 random purchases together.

Do note though that iTOTO is only available via quick pick, and of course your earnings (if you win) is the sum of the prize divided by 28.

7. Extended Opening Hours

You can’t hope to win a lottery if you haven’t gotten yourself a ticket, can you?

With that in mind, Singapore Pools Authorised Retailers will be opened from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from 20 February to 21 February, and 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on 22 February.

On the other hand, Singapore Pools Branches will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. while the main branch will be opened from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m on 22 February itself.

8. Donations

Now, you must be thinking, “what has Toto got to do with charities?”

“Does the writer have something up his arse that he is typing shit?”

Well, even if I did have something up my arse, that would not be your business nor does it make the Toto-donation link false.

Because it is true according to Singapore Pools.

If you don’t know-

“As a fully-owned subsidiary of the Tote Board, all surplus generated from Singapore Pools’ operations are channelled to our parent for the funding of worthy causes in the arts, community development, charity, education, health and sports sectors. Over the past 10 years, the Tote Board Group (comprising Tote Board, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club) has contributed more than $6 billion towards nation-building.”

That would mean you are either winning or donating.

Because if you win, your bet wouldn’t have been a gamble, and if you’ve lost, you would have donated.

So much win-win in this scenario.

9. Largest Wins 9 (All in 2019 to boot)

Till date, the top two highest amounts ever won by a single Toto winner were $9.58 million in the 14 Jan draw and $9.7 million in the 3 Jan draw respectively.

Both in 2019.

If you believe three time’s a charm, then we could very well witness our first solo Hong Bao Draw winner should this uptrend continue.

10. Game (and win) Responsibly

Suffice to say, anything in excessive amount is most likely to be detrimental.

Even Singapore Pools is telling you to take a chill pill when it comes to gambling.

So please, don’t go dumping your life savings, or even your week’s savings into a bet.

Just play with whatever small amount you can afford to not have, or whatever your wife/girlfriend allows you to, whichever lower.

That said, if you do win it (fat hope, because I’m going to be the one), please take note to avoid its pitfalls too.

This Singsaver article has to be one of the most horrifying re-imaganing of what it would be like to win a TOTO only to screw up your life because of it.

Except it isn’t fictitious and drawn entirely from real-life stories.

That said, if you’ve somehow won and don’t want the money, do contact us. We’ll help you spend the money instead.