Amidst the mooncakes and lanterns, a group of punters put a decades-old urban legend to a test in Monday's Mid-Autumn Festival Snowball Draw for the HK$80 million jackpot.
Organized through social media, the collective effort was based on the myth that a super computer selects winning numbers that most people are betting on.
In a Thread post on Monday (Oct 6), the poster referenced the record 39 winners in a 1997 mark six draw, inviting the online community to collectively bet on the same set of numbers to validate the myth.
"Let's get over 100 people to buy the same numbers and bring the jackpot home," the user wrote, proposing the numbers: 3, 9, 10, 14, 23, and 28.
The poster confidently urged fellow internet users to chip in HK$10 each to share in the HK$80 million jackpot, aiming to set a Guinness World Record for the highest number of winners in a Mark Six draw.
The call has drawn eager participants, many of whom joined for the thrill of the experiment rather than faith in the myth.
"It's just HK$10, why not?" one commented, while others shared screenshots of their bets and joked about "calling a real estate agent" in anticipation.
In response to the enthusiastic reaction, the organizer emphasized that the collective bid aimed to spread joy during the festival.
However, the outcome was unexpected as only one of the six chosen matched, "How can we only get number 23?" the poster exclaimed in disbelief.
Despite the disappointing results, commenters left playful remarks like, "Where is the jackpot we were promised?" and "You did manage to get one number right."
According to the record, the most winning lottery draw occurred during the 1997 handover Mark Six, where 39 tickets each won over HK$700,000 with the numbers 1, 4, 7, 9, 17 and 18.
Notably, the draw in 2001 also saw numerous winners, with 28 participants splitting a HK$5 million jackpot that included the lucky numbers 2 and 8.
The most recent draw with a large number of winners was on November 26, 2016, when the Hong Kong Jockey Club had to prepare HK$6.7 million extra funds for the draw due to an overwhelming number of winners.
