The winner picked up his prize on February 7. (Representative pic)
A 28-year-old man in China has won a whopping 680-million-yuan ($96 million) lottery jackpot by betting on the same group of seven numbers every time. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), this is the biggest lottery jackpot in the country. The winner, whose name hasn't been revealed, is a small business owner from Guizhou province in southwestern China. He bought 133 tickets at 28 cents each and bet on the same group of seven numbers every time. Each of his tickets won a prize of $725,000, the outlet reported.
The winner picked up his prize on February 7. Out of his total prize money, he will now need to pay one-fifth of his lottery income in tax, as per the Individual Income Tax Law rules. Notably, the man's lottery win of $96 million exceeded China's previous record of $80 million, won by a man living in Beijing in 2012.
According to SCMP, the man said he received a message about his massive win on his mobile phone at night. "At first I didn't believe it, so I verified it several times. I was too thrilled to sleep," he said. The man then drove to Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, to collect his prize-winning cheque early the next morning.
"I've been researching the trend of numbers appearing in previous winning tickets. I chose some of those and added one of my own lucky numbers to bet on. I have bet on this set of figures for a long time. I will share this good news with my family during the Spring Festival holiday," the man added.
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Meanwhile, last year in December, a man in China who won a $30 million (Rs 248 crore) lottery sparked a discussion online after he decided against telling his wife or children about his big win. The man, identified as Li from Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, bought 40 lottery tickets for 80 yuan ($11) with every ticket containing the same seven numbers. All seven numbers matched and the man won the grand prize. He collected the prize on October 24 and even donated 5 million yuan ($684,992) to charity.
But after winning the grand prize, the man decided not to tell his wife or children because he thought they would "swell in their heart" and stop working hard. "I have not told my wife or kid. I am concerned that they might feel superior to other people and will not work or study hard in future," the man was quoted as saying by the outlet.