As UAE prize draws are suspended, what were the chances of winning?

Raffles and prize draws have been a widespread phenomenon in the UAE, drawing in tens of thousands of participants hoping to win life-changing jackpots.

However, dreams of winning a life-changing sum of money are having to be put on hold as operators have been instructed to pause business inside the UAE from Monday.

An “industry-wide mandate consistent with the regulators’ new role to create a well-regulated gaming environment” was cited as the cause.

Previously, residents have been able to win anything from a few dirhams to Dh200 million with companies such as Mahzooz, Emirates Draw, Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free.

Mahzooz and Emirates Draw have confirmed that activities have been suspended.

However, Big Ticket is still selling tickets, saying they were not going to pause activities.

"You can still buy your lucky ticket from our website or Abu Dhabi International Airport and Al Ain Airport counters," they said.

Dubai Duty Free also continues to sell tickets, and lists on its website two sold-out draws due to take place on Wednesday.

The National has approached Dubai Duty Free for comment.

So, as hopefuls can no longer buy tickets for some of their favourite prize draws or raffles, The National asked: how likely was it that a ticket buyer would walk away a winner?

Mahzooz – Cash prize: up to Dh20,000,000

Khaled Nader, a UAE-based high school maths teacher, said winning a raffle or draw is simply down to the balance of probabilities.

“Probability is the chance for an event to occur and when it comes to raffles and draws, it depends on the criteria,” he told The National.

He said it comes down to a variety of factors, including how many numbers need to match, or in the case of a raffle, how many participants take part.

Mahzooz hosted a weekly raffle every Saturday, unveiling winners based on selected numbers. To play, individuals needed to purchase a minimum of one water bottle priced at Dh35, with each bottle serving as an entry card.

Players could purchase an unlimited number of bottles.

“The higher number of tickets [purchased overall in a raffle], the less chance of winning – and vice versa,” Mr Nader said.

Mahzooz also allowed players to pick five numbers out of 49 for a chance to win cash prizes.

Matching numbers drawn by Mahzooz determined the prize amount, with varying rewards based on the number of matches.

If you matched all five numbers, you could take home the grand prize of Dh20 million, whereas matching four, three or two numbers rewarded players with shared cash prizes of Dh150,000, or individual wins of Dh35.

Mahzooz also ran weekly draws, awarding Dh100,000 cash prizes to three winners.

“The odds vary from an approximately one in 1.9 million chance to win the grand prize,” Mr Nader said.

However, if the requirement had been to match all five numbers in the same order as they were drawn, the probability of winning would rocket to more than one in 228 million, but fortunately that was not the case.

“For the best shot at securing a win, aim for the smaller prizes or less complicated games to increase the odds of walking away with bigger prizes,” said Mr Nader.

Mahzooz posted on its Facebook page on Sunday that operations were suspended until further notice. Pawan Singh / The National

Emirates Draw – Cash prize: up to Dh200,000,000

Like Mahzooz, the Emirates Draw offered three prize categories based on cost, with entry prices starting from Dh15 for the Easy6 draw, Dh25 for the Fast5 draw and Dh50 for the Mega7 draw.

The most expensive category – the Mega7 draw – awarded up to Dh200m in its weekly draw. For the raffle, it guaranteed 15 winners, with each receiving Dh10,000.

Players could either choose seven numbers out of one to 37, or have their numbers randomised.

The prize was shared among a number of winners, varying from Dh7 to Dh200m.

“The odds are approximately one in 10.3 million chance of winning the grand prize,” said Mr Nader.

Because Mahzooz and Emirates Draw offered low-cost draws, Mr Nader said the probability of winning cash prizes was low “because that's the nature of the game”.

For the FAST 5 draw, where players had to match five balls out of 42, the chances of getting all five was around one in 850,000.

“The only guaranteed win in Mahzooz and Emirates Draw is the raffle because a participant is sure of his or her name being a potential winner among other participants,” Mr Nader said.

“Then if you are lucky enough, your name gets picked out,” he said.

Big Ticket – Cash prize: up to Dh20,000,000

Another popular raffle game in the UAE is Big Ticket which takes place monthly. Historically, the grand prize is announced on the 3rd of every month, and additional draws are held weekly (known as weekly electronic draw prizes or weekly e-draw prizes).

A car is also given away on the 3rd of every month.

Tickets are still available for its draws.

The Cash Draw Big Ticket – costing Dh500 per ticket – offered a prize of a 24 carat gold ingot and/or a cash prize.

If players purchase two tickets, they receive a third for free.

The dream car raffle ticket, prized at Dh150, offers the opportunity to win a luxury car, such as a Range Rover or BMW.

There is an Dh10,000 limit per customer per month for purchasing tickets to enter the raffle

As tickets that do not win can be returned to the draw for the chance to win additional prizes, chances of winning are higher than raffles where there is a one-time opportunity to have your ticket number chosen at random.

Dubai Duty Free draw – Cash prize: up to $1,000,000

Dubai Duty Free also offers a raffle where participants can purchase multiple tickets across three categories.

Players can enter the Millennium Millionaire raffle, which costs Dh1,000 per ticket and is limited to 5,000 tickets, making it a one in 5,000 chance of winning $1 million per ticket bought.

The Finest Surprise Car raffle was Dh500 per ticket, with only 2,500 tickets available, while the Finest Surprise Bike raffle will cost players Dh500 per ticket, with only 1,200 tickets available.

The chances of winning are one in 2,500 and one in 1,200 respectively per ticket bought.

Winner announcements take place at the Dubai Duty Free shopping complex once all tickets are sold, which usually occurrs every two to three weeks.

Eight players found themselves holding the winning ticket more than once.

“Both Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free operate as draws which guarantees a winner with the probability of winning directly linked to the number of players,” said Mr Nader.

Mr Nader said that while both draws featured a higher ticket cost compared to Mahzooz and Emirates Draw, they also allowed players to purchase an unlimited number of tickets, so while chances are still not high, they are higher than when buying just one ticket.

“This means that individuals [could] increase their chances of winning by buying multiple tickets,” he said.

Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015

- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

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The biog

Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology

Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India

Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur

How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993

Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters

Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”