In a one-in-a-million case, a whopping 433 people in the Philippines have simultaneously won the Grand Lotto jackpot. The unlikely happening ended up raising some suspicions about the lottery’s integrity.

Fraud or Chance? People’s Suspicious Were Instantly Raised

As per the rules of Grand Lotto, players need to select six numbers from 1 to 55. If a player’s numbers match the winning sequence, that player wins the jackpot. Considering how low the chances of matching all six numbers are, it is hardly surprising that people were shocked when 433 players all got the correct combination. Now, all of these players will get a share of the $4 million jackpot.  

The news quickly became a sensation, sparking concerns for Grand Lotto’s integrity. The controversy was amplified by the fact that the winning combination was a very peculiar number. People were quick to note that all numbers within the combination could be divided by nine.

Aquilino Martin de la Llana “Koko” Pimentel III, minority leader at the Philippines Senate, appealed for an investigation of the suspicious lottery. He noted that the lottery holds an official license to operate in the Philippines and, as such, needs to be thoroughly investigated and penalized if any violations are detected. Pimentel added that it is crucial to maintain the integrity of officially-authorized games.

A Truly Unusual Day Would Be One Where Nothing Unusual Happens

Despite the concerns, Melquiades Robles, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s general manager, noted that there seem to be no irregularities with the results. Robles noted that lottery players often tend to pick sequences that follow certain logic (as in this case where all numbers can be divided by 9). In addition, many players have a favorite combination that they would use each time.

Furthermore, Terence Tao, a professor in mathematics at the University of California, spoke with BBC News about the odds behind the rare event. He noted that there are hundreds of lotteries across the globe and hundreds of winning combinations are drawn each day. In addition, many lotteries have existed for decades and have drawn hundreds of winning combinations.

When factoring all that, Tao said, it is not that surprising that once in a while an unusual happening such as this one would occur.

It’s similar to how in any given hand of poker it would be unlikely to draw a straight flush, but if one looks at hundreds of thousands of hands at once then it actually becomes quite likely that a straight flush would be drawn.

Terence Tao, professor in mathematics, University of California

In other news, a recent study showed that POGO-related kidnappings in the Philippines are on the rise.