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One coffee shop in Hougang recently got punters all excited after the "lucky" 4D numbers it provided ended up making some money for those who wagered a bet on permutations of the number.

Winning numbers

According to a borderline superstitious but feel-good community story by Shin Min Daily News, the coffeeshop at Block 511 Hougang Avenue 11 would typically set up an altar on the first day of the Hungry Ghost Festival for devotees to offer their prayers.

This year, like other years, the altar offered a set of four numbers — 8497.

Punters who took a gamble on various permutations of this number ended up winning some 4D prize money as a result.

Various draws

Variations of the "8497" number showed up on four separate draws in the past three weeks — the starter prize on two occasions, as well as the first and second prize.

The most recent incident was on Sep. 5, when 7498 won the starter prize.

On Sep. 1, 4879 won the first prize.

On Aug. 22, 9784 won the 2nd prize.

7948 won the starter prize on Aug. 18.

The original number, 8497, didn't come up as a winning number, though.

Lucky winners

One of the lucky winners told Shin Min that he won three times, with winnings amounting to "at least S$2,000".

He also showed the Chinese press one of his winning tickets.

The ticket showed that he had made a System Entry bet for the number 9784 for the Sep. 5 draw.

In a System Entry bet, one is able to bet on all possible permutations of the four-digit number.

Such a good run purportedly made people slightly richer.

One resident claimed that around 20 people would win each week over the three-week period, guesstimating that the total prize money of all the winners amounted to at least S$100,000.

But there was no way to ascertain this claim.

A coffeeshop manager also said she had bet on "1151" — somewhat referencing the coffeeshop's address (Block 511, Ave 11) — and won the first prize on Aug. 21.

She said she bought a roasted pig for the altar to offer her thanks, and later shared the food with people in the community.

The Chinese paper understands that the winners are usually residents who live nearby, as well as coffeeshop staff, although there might be some lucky passers-by.

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Top photo via Shin Min Daily News.