Abu Dhabi: Oman resident Renjith Venugopalan, 42, from Kerala, India won Dh10million in the latest Big Ticket Abu Dhabi draw on December 3.
He bought his winning ticket 052706 in the series 234 online on November 27.
The second prize of Dh1 million also went to another Indian expat, Abdul Majeed, who is a resident of Al Ain.
Thanks for the call
Venugopalan was watching the live draw when Big Ticket called him. He said: “Thank you for the call. I can’t believe it. I’m at home, in Oman. I’m feeling very excited!”
Venugopalan, who has been living in Oman for the past 12 years and works as an accountant in a real estate company, will be sharing the prize money with five of his friends in Oman, who pitched in to buy the ticket.
Second-time lucky
Speaking to Gulf News over the phone after the draw on Friday, Venugopalan said it was only the second time that he bought a ticket. “I can’t believe it. God is great! This is the best to way to end 2021 and welcome 2022 with a new life,” he said.
Venugopalan is married and has a five-year old daughter. He said his first plan for the prize money is to use it to secure his daughter’s education. He will also build a house for his family back home in Kerala.
Venugopalan, who immediately called his friends to share the good news, will be coming to Dubai next month to meet officials of Big Ticket and also to be at the next draw.
Dh25 million jackpot
Meanwhile, Abu Dhabi-based Big Ticket draw will offer its biggest prize yet - a whopping Dh25 million jackpot in January 2022 for Big Ticket Series 235. There will also be Dh1 million prize every week in December.
Big Ticket host and presenter Richard earlier told Gulf News: “Through December we will establish a millionaire each week. Basically, ticket buyers of each week will go into a draw and a Dh1 million winner will be announced.”
“They (participants) will then go into the mega draw, which will be announced on January 3, 2022, for the Dh25 million jackpot. For the weekly Dh1 million draw, only those who bought ticket in that particular week will be eligible,” he further explained.
New Year with a bang
Richard added there will also be an additional Dh2 million to be given away on January 3. “So, in all, we are making four millionaires and two multi-millionaires from December up until January 3. The idea is to ring in the New Year with a bang,” he noted.
Ticket price
The price of one Big Ticket is Dh500, inclusive of VAT. If you buy two tickets, Big Ticket is giving the third one free. Big Ticket will also run the ‘buy 2 get 1 free’ promotion on the Dream Car tickets, where customers will have the opportunity to choose between the new Maserati Ghibli or ever-popular Range Rover Sport. The Dream Car ticket is Dh150, inclusive of VAT.
To purchase the Big Ticket and Dream Car Ticket, participants can visit their stores at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain Airport, or online on the Big Ticket website.
