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Queues are long at Singapore Pools betting outlets at Block 102, Yishun Avenue 5 (above) - reputed to be the luckiest outlet in Singapore with a history of 26 Toto wins - and Bedok North as punters try their luck at hitting the $8 million Toto jackpot in Friday's draw. But many are waiting till tomorrow to buy their tickets, so that their numbers will apply only to Friday's draw, and not Monday's as well. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA
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You will have to wait until 3008 for another '08.08.08'. Die-hard punters here are also playing a waiting game - till tomorrow - before rushing to Singapore Pools outlets.
They are eyeing its Triple Eight Toto Draw with a jackpot prize of - but of course - $8 million. Draw date: Aug 8.
Singapore Pools has even tweaked the date of the special draw to Friday. Draws are usually held on Mondays and Thursdays.
Although punters could have bought tickets for the draw from last Thursday evening, many of the 130 people interviewed at 20 betting outlets told The Sunday Times that they would wait until tomorrow to do so.
This is because under the system, punters who buy a Toto ticket before the weekly Monday 4.30pm draw must enter numbers for two consecutive draws, that is, tomorrow's and this Friday's. This would split their chances of winning.
If they buy it after the Monday draw, their numbers will apply only to the Friday draw, so their chances of striking it rich will increase.
Contractor Francis Yee, 52, summed up punters' hopes when he said: 'Someone has to win the jackpot. I may be the one, right?'
He was in the line at the betting outlet at Block 102, Yishun Avenue 5, which is reputed to be the luckiest outlet in Singapore with a history of 26 Toto wins.
Even non-locals have bought into this particular Singapore Dream.
Filipino maid Ana Magaso, 26, who has worked in Singapore for the past 10 months, said she started out by placing bets for her employer.
When The Sunday Times approached her at the Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 outlet, she said: 'My boss knows that I bet. She said that it's my own money.'
Ms Magaso said her friends, also maids, are betting too. She spends about $20 on bets each month.
'Sometimes it's less, but I play only for fun.'
About 88 per cent of the gamblers interviewed will spend up to $100 more on the 08.08.08 draw. Many said they usually put up about $150 per month for bets.
Some punters said they had a 'strategy'.
Taxi driver Soh Hee Chean, 52, picks his numbers by eliminating those that have won previously. He has been keeping track of them in a book for more than 10 years. His biggest win was $3,000.
A retiree, who wanted to be known only as Madam Poh, 70, took out a crumpled piece of paper with numbers written in Chinese.
She said: 'These numbers are special to me. They are the birth dates of my children and their children.'
She gambles regularly and spends about $10 per trip to the betting outlet.
A survey of 2,300 Singaporeans from November last year to January this year found that 60 per cent of those earning below $1,000 gambled in the past 12 months, up from 50 per cent in 2005.
This year's 08.08.08 $8 million jackpot is $2 million shy of the annual Toto Hongbao draw, which promises at least $10 million.
A Straits Times check in June revealed that gamblers spent about $4.2 billion on 4-D last year.
Singapore Pools said 4-D is the most popular game. Toto ranks fourth in popularity, after soccer matches and motor races, respectively.
Additional reporting by Esther Teo
Will you brave long queues to place bets in the $8 million Toto draw? Log on to straitstimes.com to vote
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