A 42-year-old Filipino former secretary, Bernadette Azucena, has become the latest Big Ticket Abu Dhabi millionaire after her ticket, number 013075, was drawn for the Dh20 million grand prize on Saturday. Azucena bought the ticket as part of a 22-member syndicate, meaning the windfall will be split among the group. She said her share would go toward paying off the mortgage on her family's house back in the Philippines.
The same draw handed the Dream Car prize, a Nissan Patrol, to Waseem Khan, an Indian expatriate based in Dubai.
Big Ticket Abu Dhabi, one of the Gulf's longest-running raffle draws, is held monthly and attracts entries from residents and tourists across the UAE. Alongside its headline cash prize it also gives away cars and a series of smaller weekly cash prizes.
Group ticket purchases, like the one that delivered Azucena's win, have become increasingly common among the UAE's Filipino and Indian communities, who often pool money to buy entries and share any prize among members.
Previous Big Ticket winners have used their prize money for a wide range of purposes, from clearing debts and funding children's education to investing in small businesses back home. Azucena's win adds to a growing list of overseas workers in the UAE whose lives have been transformed overnight by the draw.
Organisers confirmed the next Big Ticket Abu Dhabi draw will take place next month, continuing the monthly schedule that has made it one of the most closely followed lottery-style promotions in the region.