Bought 50,000 Lottery Tickets with the Same Number and Won '40 Billion'... China Faces Growing 'Suspicion'

Buying Lottery Intensively 2 Hours Before Broadcast Start
Chinese Expert "Extremely Low Probability... Explain It"

A case has emerged in China where someone bought 50,000 lottery tickets with the same number and won a prize exceeding 40 billion won, raising suspicions that it might have been manipulated.

Lottery drawing scene of 'Kwaireo8'. [Photo by China Lottery official website video capture]

On the 9th (local time), Chinese economic media outlets continuously reported on the lottery 'Kuaile 8'.

Kuaile 8 is a lottery where players select between 1 and 10 numbers from 1 to 80, and the more numbers matched, the larger the prize. Each week, 20 numbers are drawn, and typically matching 7 numbers yields a prize of about 800,000 won.

On the 2nd, a lottery winner from Jiangxi Province purchased 50,000 Kuaile 8 tickets for 100,000 yuan (approximately 18.3 million won) and won 220 million yuan (about 40.3436 billion won). Some have raised suspicions because, according to Chinese regulations, a person can only buy up to 10,000 tickets with the same number, yet the winner purchased 50,000 tickets.

Additionally, the fact that the winner visited multiple sales points and bought tickets intensively just two hours before the lottery draw broadcast fueled further suspicion.

Meanwhile, among the 20 winning numbers announced on the 2nd, no one matched all 10 numbers. One person matched the bonus number and 9 numbers. However, the controversial winner had chosen the option to select 7 numbers and matched all 7 numbers exactly.

Chinese media reported that, based on probability calculations and expert advice, this is an "extremely unlikely probability." One outlet stated, "Since all doubts have not been resolved, a thorough investigation by a third party is necessary to provide a convincing explanation to the public."

The winner explained, "I have been buying lottery tickets for over 5 years, and my family’s financial situation is good, so buying tickets has become a habit. Usually, I spend several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan per purchase."

Meanwhile, interest in lotteries in China has surged to the point of being called a "lottery craze." Lottery sales exceeded 86 trillion won by October this year, a 53% increase compared to last year. From January to October this year, the average lottery purchase per person in China was about 340 yuan (approximately 61,000 won). This is interpreted as reflecting a mentality aiming for a big win amid the recent economic downturn in China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.