Toto Hong Bao Draw: Retiree splashes $1,200 on hundreds of tickets, shares them with family and friends

Just how badly do you want to become a multi-millionaire?

For one retiree, it was about pulling out all the stops ahead of the Toto Hong Bao Draw tonight (Feb 11), which boasts a record $16 million prize.

Mr Zhu Zhao Lin, 67, splashed out $1,200 in total on Toto bets that amounted to hundreds of tickets.

The former factory manager told Shin Min Daily News that his “luck is good” this year, owing to his goat zodiac sign.

But the hundreds of tickets weren’t just for himself. He distributed them to family and friends in order to share the chance of getting rich.

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His wife, Ms Xie Li Ming, 60, said she told Zhu to place the Toto bets, but did not expect him to spend so much.

Even her sister's family had been gifted some of the tickets, she said.

Mr Zhu also said he would use the money for charity if he won.

Naturally, the story has attracted many positive comments from netizens, some of them remarking that his willingness to share was in itself a blessing.

But there were also some who were slightly more pessimistic:

This year’s Toto Hong Bao Draw prize is the biggest since 2000.

Initially, the prize stood at $12 million, but it snowballed after there was no winner from Monday’s (Feb 7) draw.

The huge prize money attracted thousands who queued at Singapore Pools outlets to place their bets.

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