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Vietnam is one of Asia’s third world countries that rely heavily on foreign investments. Being a poor country, its citizens are not allowed to gamble away their money except on state-owned lotteries. There are three main branches of the National Lottery under the Ministry of Finance – the Southern Lottery Council, Northern Lottery Council, and the Central Lottery Council.
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Playing the Vietnam Lottery
The Southern Lottery operates the Ben Tre Lottery, Lottery Vung Tau, and the Lottery Lieu. The Northern Lottery Council holds the Quang Ninh whilst Central Vietnam holds the Dak Lak and the Quang Nam Lotteries.
Playing the lottery is one of the locals’ favourite activities. Those who want to immerse in the Vietnamese culture would find it necessary to learn how to play the traditional Vietnamese lottery, especially when you see lottery sellers littering the streets of Vietnam. These sellers need to sell all their tickets before 3 pm every single day. These sellers sell the tickets in exchange for a few cents in profit or 10 percent of the ticket price. Ticket price is 10,000 Vietnamese Dong each but do not be surprised if someone sells it for 12,000 Vietnamese Dong to make ends meet. Most of the ticket sellers are individuals who find it difficult to look for a more stable job either because of a disability or old age. Since the government of Vietnam does not provide any unemployment benefits for the said individuals.
The lottery result is announced at 4 pm every day. In Vietnam, the lottery is operated by 63 provincial governments that provide daily prizes ranging from 100,000 to 2 billion Vietnamese Dong.
Lotto Game
The Lotto Game is the most played game in the Vietnam Lottery, that as much as 40 percent of the total lottery revenue comes from this. Many locals and even foreigners play the lotto game because it is relatively easy to play. This entails players to choose their numbers and the prize depends on how many numbers match. If no one wins the jackpot, it is rolled over to the next draw so the prize can really go up to billions!
The Digits Lottery Game
This is a more modern form of lottery and is most popular worldwide. This accounts for about 7 percent of the total lottery revenue of Vietnam. In this form of lottery, players choose numbers between 0 and 9 to create a winning combination.
Quick Draw Game
Also known worldwide as Keno, this quick lottery game is also a crowd favourite among the Vietnamese, accounting for about 6 percent of the total lottery revenue. This has more frequent draws so it is highly preferred by avid lottery players.
The quick draw game is an easy game to play despite having various prize structures. The players only have to choose their preferred numbers and select the amount they want to bet. They have to bet before the draws start. Draws are sometimes within several minutes only so it would not be unusual to see lottery bettors waiting in lottery stalls for the draw.
How to Play the Vietnamese Lottery
The Vietnamese lottery result depends on the result of the draws of lottery companies. The “Hanoi” company has 27 numeric strings whilst the others only have 18 numeric strings. When betting on a lottery ticket, you have to write the number strings and the type of the bet. If you place your bet on the correct number string in the correct position, you win the corresponding prize.
A lottery ticket has three important indices:
- The Province
- Date
- Lottery Numbers
The most important index is the lottery number as this would determine if you are holding the winning ticket.
One lottery ticket consists of six digits, which will be raffled every afternoon. You can find the results posted in lottery stalls or you can also watch it online.
For example: Your ticket is dated December 21, 2018, in the province of Tien Gang and your ticket number is 9 6 1 9 8 2. The winning lottery numbers drawn on that particular day for the corresponding jackpot are:
8th Prize for 100,000 VND: The last two digits of the ticket are 6 7 and yours is 8 2 – you lose.
7th Prize for 200,000 VND: The last three digits of the ticket are 8 6 3 and yours is 9 8 2 – you lose.
6th Prize for 400,000 VND: The last four digits of the ticket are 9 6 9 5, 6 9 0 5, and 7 0 2 2 and yours is 1 9 8 2 – you lose.
5th Prize for 1 Million VND: The last four digits are 1 9 8 2 – you WIN!
4th Prize for 3 Million VND: The last five digits are 5 4 8 7 0, 8 2 3 8 4, 6 7 0 5 7, 5 8 6 7 9, 3 2 7 7 3, 4 6 0 0 7 7, 5 6 3 0 4, and 8 7 5 8 6 0 and yours is 6 1 9 8 2– you lose.
3rd Prize for 10 Million VND: The last five digits are 2 4 7 8 8 and 7 2 7 8 5 and yours is 6 1 9 8 2 – you lose.
2nd Prize for 15 million VND: The last five digits are 2 5 2 7 8 and yours is 6 1 9 8 2 – you lose.
1st Prize for 30 million VND: The last five digits are 5 0 3 3 6 and yours is 6 1 9 8 2 – you lose.
Special Prize for 2 Billion VND: The six digits are 8 6 1 9 8 2 and yours is 9 6 1 9 8 2 – you lose!
In the special prize, you just missed one digit and you could have won 2 billion VND. But don’t fret because the Vietnam lottery offers a special “comforting” prize for ticket holders like you.
They award 50 million VND for those who get the last five digits of the special prize, like in your case. Not only that, there is an additional 6 million VND for those tickets that only have one digit different from the special prize, no matter where the position is. So in this draw, your ticket won a total of 57 million VND: 1 million from the 5th Prize, 50 million and 6 million from the Comforting Prize.
Many locals are fond of playing the Vietnamese lottery because their ticket can have plenty of chances in bagging a prize compared with other lotteries that only award prizes for getting the exact numbers from a six-digit draw.
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How to Claim Lottery Winnings
Now that you have 57 million VND to claim, how do you go about it? First, remember to keep the lottery ticket clean. It should have no stain or any discoloration and tears. You only have a maximum of 30 days to claim your prize so best to do it as soon as possible. Do note that the government will award the money in cash or through bank transfer. To be safe, opt for the bank transfer. If you still don’t have any bank accounts in Vietnam, open one before claiming your prize.
For the 8th and 7th prize winnings, tickets can be exchanged with lottery sellers. For the 6th prize and 3rd prize, tickets can be exchanged at the lottery stalls. For the 2nd, 1st, and Special Prize, the tickets can be exchanged at big lottery stalls such as the Minh Ngoc or at the big gold store.
Vietnam Lottery Scandals
All Vietnamese lotteries are state-owned but they are not exempt from scandals and issues. The Southern Lottery Council, representing 21 small lottery companies in Vietnam, filed a complaint against its rival Vietlott for allegedly running illegal lottery operations. The council has asked the Ministry of Finance to start an investigation.
The complaint came after Vietlott launched the Western-style Mega 6/45 lotto game. Traditional Vietnamese lotteries sell pre-printed tickets and cap the winnings at 1.5 billion VND. However, Vietlott’s jackpot prize is pegged at 12 billion VND, which can be rolled over in case no one wins the jackpot. In October 2016, one winner claiming a record high of 92 billion VND after the 6/45 Mega Lotto rolled over 39 times. Vietlott again awarded a single 65 billion VND two weeks after, boosting their sales and decreasing that of the traditional Vietnamese lottery operators.
Allowing Vietlott to continue operating this way gives the locals an avenue to gamble their way into addiction. Giving them the chance to win big jackpot prizes and hope for an exit from their poor life only encourages them to bet on chances and become addicted to it, which in the long run, can only result in debts and poverty they cannot recover from.
Have you tried betting on a lottery before? Did you ever win one? Let us know in the comments below!
