A man who kept buying lottery tickets after his friends gave up was rewarded this week when he became the sole winner of the Dh12 million ($3.3m) grand prize.
Sharjah resident Shivamurthy Gali Krishnappa, a 42-year-old engineer from India, started buying Big Tickets with his friends, who set up a syndicate together four years ago.
But they became frustrated by their failure to win and dropped out a year ago.
He kept going and on Wednesday night his dedication paid off when he found out his ticket number, 202511, was the winning code for the lottery's biggest prize.
He bought the ticket on February 17 after claiming a "buy two get one free" offer, sharing the tickets with his son, daughter and wife. One Big Ticket Millionaire costs Dh500.
He found out he won while watching the Big Ticket show live.
After the announcement, Mr Krishnappa told a Big Ticket representative the “first thing you should do is trust in Big Ticket, because it is an investment".
“One day you will win so continue to buy because I have been buying for four years now and now my dream has come true," he said.
Other prizes in the draw included Dh1m, Dh100,000 and Dh80,000.
The Big Ticket’s next draw is set to take place on April 3, when the draw will be streamed live.
The event has been running since 1992, when it started out as Dh1m prize giveaway and has gradually grown since.
Read more about previous lottery winners:
Filipina who won Dubai’s Dh1m lottery will keep receptionist job
Seven winners in Dubai share Dh1 million Mahzooz weekly jackpot
Emirates Loto winner uses prize money to help needy friends and relatives
Emirates Loto winner uses Dh100,000 prize to help family caught up in Beirut blast
Irish teacher in Abu Dhabi wins Dh500,000 with Emirates Loto after forgetting he had ticket
