A lucky UAE resident has made his mark in the record books after securing a Dh100,000 ($27,225) scratch card windfall in the country's first authorised lottery.
Mirza Omair Baig was revealed as a big winner of the Golden 7 scratch card, one of a number of games operating alongside the main UAE lottery draw.
Operator UAE Lottery shared a picture of Mr Baig on social media on Tuesday evening.
“Congratulations, Mirza Omair Baig! You’ve won Dh100,000 with the Golden 7 Scratch Card,” said the post on X.
“Your big win has officially made history as the first 'Winner spotlight' on our page. Enjoy this incredible moment – you’ve earned it!”
The Golden 7 game offers a Dh1 million jackpot, along with a range of secondary prizes from Dh100,000 to Dh50. As with the UAE Lottery itself, tickets are Dh50.
Players must match the winning numbers and can see their prize increased if they scratch off Golden 7 symbols. The odds of scooping Dh1m are one in a million, with a one in 500,000 chance of picking up the Dh100,000 second prize.
Unlike other scratch card games around the world, players do not purchase a physical card in which numbers are scratched off, often with a coin. A virtual card is purchased online with players able to 'scratch off' their numbers on the UAE Lottery website.
Striking it lucky
The UAE held the inaugural national lottery draw on Saturday, with nearly 30,000 residents sharing about Dh3.5 million in prize money.
However, no-one won either the life-changing Dh100 million jackpot, for picking out the seven winning numbers, or the Dh1 million second prize, for selecting six numbers.
The landmark event was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of lottery operator, Game LLC.
The Lucky Day lottery draw follows a calendar format, with players asked to select six numbers from a possible 31 from a “day” section of the online draw card and one number from 12 in the “month” section. Players must register on the official lottery website to take part. There are 43 numbers in total to pick from.
Lottery hopefuls can either choose their own numbers each game week or use the easy pick option on the website, which selects numbers at random. Draws are held on a Saturday, every two weeks.
Players who match all seven numbers – six from the day section and the one from the month section are in line for the Dh100 million top prize. Should there be more than one winning ticket, the windfall will be shared equally. The Dh1 million second prize is on offer for selecting all six day numbers.
The authorised lottery is the result of a major government drive to overhaul the UAE's commercial gaming sector. The General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority was established in September last year with the aim of shaping a “world-leading regulatory framework for a national lottery and commercial gaming”.
Independent lottery operators were directed to pause their activities in January, with the GCGRA awarding a licence for the national lottery in July to Game LLC, under the banner of UAE Lottery.
