The ticket printer for a lottery outlet in Bangued, Abra conked out following the bevy of bettors for the Ultra Lotto 6/58 game, as its jackpot prize breached the P1-billion mark on Tuesday.
“With so many bettors sir, our printer gave out,” the teller of the lottery outlet told GMA News reporter Bam Alegre.
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office was notified immediately to have the printer replaced.
The same snakelike queues—and hopefully functioning printers and lotto machines—could be found across the country, as Filipinos and foreigners alike took their chances to win the biggest pot in Philippine lottery history, which in American dollars is just $18.44 million.
At the PCSO outlet in the upscale Glorietta mall in Makati City, the line for bettors was seven rows deep at 3 p.m., around five hours before the actual draw, with some having stood in line for hours.
“This is phenomenal, record-breaking. Imagine, one billion pesos. We didn’t expect this. We only wish a lot of bettors would win,” said Arnel Casas, PCSO assistant general manager for the Gaming, Product Development, and Marketing Sector.
