It turns out there was no Group 1 winner for the Thursday, Dec. 21 Toto draw that saw the top prize snowballed to a staggering S$12.8 million (S$12,791,400 to be exact).
As a result, the prize was split 12 ways among the Group 2 winners, as per Singapore Pools rules to disburse the top prize among Group 2 winners after no Group 1 winner emerged over four draws.
Each winning ticket ended up taking home roughly S$1.19 million, inclusive of the Group 2 prize.
And as the results showed, most of the winning tickets were purchased by punters at the physical Singapore Pools outlets.
Three of the winning shares were iToto System 12 bets.
The estimated snowballed top prize was estimated to be S$10 million initially.
But it grew to more than S$12 million as a result of significant interest by punters wagering their bets on this draw and the formula for how the Toto prize money is tabulated can be found here.
Some two hours before the Toto draw stopped accepting bets at 9:30pm, the top prize had snowballed to S$12.4 million.
Sales usually close at 6:30pm but was extended for this draw.
Prizes not claimed by June 18, 2024 will be channelled to donations and grants managed by the Tote Board.
What does iToto System 12 mean?
An iToto bet divides a Quick Pick System 12 entry into 28 units.
The cost of a System 12 entry is S$924.
It is the most expensive single bet for the Toto lottery.
A typical S$1 bet allows the punter to pick six numbers out of 49.
By picking 12 numbers at a time, the odds of winning are higher, but the cost of betting is also increased.
Therefore, a iToto System 12 entry at S$924 is split fairly into 28 portions, with each unit costing S$33 -- to add some variation to the type of bets punters can make and to make a System 12 bet more affordable for purchase by a group of people.
However, in the event where any iToto System 12 entry wins the prize, the prize amount will also be divided 28 ways.
The total amount won depends on how many units a person buys.
In this latest draw, each iToto System 12 winning share was sold at fewer than 28 locations.
This could mean that one punter bought more than one unit of the iToto System 12 from one location.
It is also possible that more than one punter bought more than one unit in the same location.
Or it could also mean there were fewer than the 28 available units of the iToto System 12 sold.
Top photo via Google Maps