At the award ceremony on 22/7, Mr. N.P., wearing a mask to protect his identity, said he is self-employed and lives in Ho Chi Minh City.

He regularly buys Vietlott tickets, "hoping for luck like others and to improve my finances." He usually buys two sets of numbers, but for the Power 6/55 drawing 10 days ago, he bought five. One set, 02 - 34 - 39 - 41 - 45 - 52, randomly generated by the machine, won the nearly 345 billion VND jackpot.

He didn't check his ticket the night of the drawing. The next morning, upon hearing someone in Ho Chi Minh City had won, he checked his numbers and "couldn't eat lunch." He told his wife that evening.

Just before 3 p.m., over 310 billion VND (after taxes) was transferred to his bank account by Vietlott.

"I have no plans yet. My first step is to donate to a social fund, then I'll think about financial planning," he said. He donated 8 billion VND to the Tam Tai Viet Social Fund later that day.

Mr. N.P. (wearing a mask) receives his winnings from a Vietlott representative on the afternoon of 22/7. Photo: Minh Anh

Mr. N.P. (wearing a mask) receives his winnings from a Vietlott representative on the afternoon of 22/7. Photo: Minh Anh

Mr. N.P.'s prize is the largest since Vietlott began its lottery operations in 2016. There have been two previous jackpots exceeding 300 billion VND. Most recently, last year, two winners in Ho Chi Minh City split a 314 billion VND jackpot.

Power 6/55 is one of seven products offered by Vietlott. This year, the Ministry of Finance set targets for Vietlott of 8,750 billion VND in revenue (including tax), 305 billion VND in pre-tax profit, and 2,023 billion VND in contributions to the state budget. Projected revenue from terminal sales is 4,440 billion VND, while mobile phone sales are expected to reach 4,262 billion VND. The remaining revenue comes from financial activities.

Vietlott's distribution network currently includes over 6,620 terminals for direct ticket sales and over 3 million registered mobile accounts.

Minh Anh