A 15-Year Wait Ends in Abu Dhabi's Big Ticket Draw
Reynaldo Herboso, 61, a Filipino bakery worker who has lived in Dubai since 1988, has won a share of the Dh20 million grand prize in Abu Dhabi's Big Ticket draw held on Monday. The winning ticket, number 267822, was bought on July 13 as part of a pool run by a group of 10 friends from the Philippines, India and Bangladesh who have been buying tickets together every month for 15 years. Each member of the group will collect Dh2 million once the prize is processed.
Mr Herboso said a Bangladeshi member of the group picked the winning number, and that the news left him overwhelmed. "When I found out that we had won, I was completely over the moon," he said, describing the moment as validation after years of trying without success. He has not yet decided how he will spend his share and says he plans to take time to make an informed decision, while adding he has no plans to stop playing the monthly draw despite already winning.
Nepali Resident Also Wins a Maserati in the Same Draw
The same draw handed a separate prize to Ash Bahadur Dura, a 47-year-old Abu Dhabi resident from Nepal who has entered the Big Ticket for more than a decade. Mr Dura won a Maserati Grecale after selecting his winning ticket at random, and said the moment of receiving the winning call was one he could barely put into words. Both winners encouraged others to keep trying their luck, with Mr Herboso telling fellow participants that persistence eventually pays off.
The Big Ticket, established in 1992 with an initial prize of Dh1 million, remains one of the UAE's most popular monthly raffles, with entries priced at Dh500 and tickets available online or at counters in Zayed International Airport and Al Ain Airport. The draw has produced a steady string of large payouts to residents from across the UAE's expatriate community over more than three decades, cementing its reputation as one of the region's longest-running lottery-style promotions.
