Dubai: An Emirati diplomat, a Filipino nurse, and a South African businessman received special ‘Eid gifts’, after winning Dh77,777 each from the recent Emirates Draw held in Dubai.
Hassan Al Suwaidi was especially surprised since he participated few minutes before Emirates Draw closed its submissions last week. The junior diplomat, who is from Dubai but who lives in Abu Dhabi, spent the next day alternating between disbelieve and happiness before it finally felt real.
“I’m still in shock. I’ve replayed the video of the live stream at least five times and read the congratulatory email 15 times so far. I had previously won Dh77, but I didn’t expect to win AED 77,777, especially on the eve of Eid,” said Hassan, who plans to split his winnings between paying down his debt and giving a portion to his parents.
The 24-year-old Emirati said he learnt he had won while preparing for Eid celebrations with his family. He added: “My family and friends were very excited when I told them that I had won. My mother said that I was always lucky as a child when participating in raffles and this is proof that I’ve still got it.”
Lucky expatriates
Meaza Kebere, 31, a South African expatriate who runs a cosmetics business with her husband, said her excitement had not diminish yet since discovering she had won Dh77,777 from Emirates Draw.
She said: “I participate every week with my husband, and we had won Dh777 before, so when I checked my email after the draw, I saw that we had won again. I didn’t really think about it until I checked my dashboard and realised how much we had won.” The couple plan to use their winnings to expand their business.
Filipino nurse Yasser Kintanar Fuentes also hasn’t stopped laughing and smiling since discovering his good fortune. The 33-year-old male nurse, who began participating in the draw regularly three weeks ago, plans to use his Dh77,777 winnings to help his family back home in the Philippines.
Emirates Draw is giving 10 per cent of all weekly draw participants the opportunity to win Dh7 by matching the first number from the right in its newest prize category. To date, more than Dh24 million has been presented in prize money to over 15,000 winners since the organisation’s inception in September 2021.
The grand prize remains at Dh100 million until a single person or a group of people match all seven numbers in a draw correctly.
How to participate?
Participants need to purchase a pencil for Dh50 that will support in planting coral polyps. After registering online, participants can select their seven-digit number or have the system choose their number randomly. With their purchase, participants are entered into two separate drawings. The first one is a raffle draw where every week seven lucky participants are guaranteed to win Dh77,777 each. In addition, all participants are entered into a second draw with six prize categories that include a grand prize of Dh100 million, when all seven numbers are matched.
The next draw will be on May 8 at 9pm (UAE time). It will be live-streamed across Emirates Draw digital platforms.
