Winning a Mark Six jackpot under the fifth wave

Ben Kwok January 05, 2022 11:09

Who doesn’t want to win the Mark Six jackpot?

It is this time of the year that we dream about becoming rich and think about how to spend it like the property tycoons.

To kick off 2022, Hong Kong Jockey Club launched its HK$80 million snowball jackpot yesterday. No one claimed the top prize so the snowball now accumulated to HK$105 million.

In other words, one lucky winner could take home a nine-digit cheque in the coming weekend although it is quite possible – with more people getting into the pool – to have more than just one winner.

Although it is short of a record HK$110 million jackpot, the winner arguably would have more consumption power than most people in this city.

That is because Hang Seng Index fell 14 per cent last year amid Beijing’s tightening regime that cooled off most Chinese hot stocks.

Credit Suisse Private Banking vice chairman Dong Tao tipped Hong Kong property market, one of the most expensive on the planet, to be subpar in the next six months.

He explained Hong Kong is stuck in a somewhat awkward situation because the foreign capital ran away but the mainland capital cannot come in.

That perhaps explains why Hong Kong lagged the rising global property market as a result of the near two-year border-closing due to the pandemic.

In turbulent times, it is perhaps safer to keep your money in the pocket than invest in the unknown.

On top of that, whether it is wise to invest in Hong Kong assets is in doubt after an estimated 100,000 plus people left this city last year. Overseas property is hot. Hong Kong property is not.

But in the first place, what are the chances for getting the top prize? All told. Mathematically, it is about one in 14 million.

I figure it is much easier to get Covid-19 in Hong Kong (about 0.17 per cent chance) or getting enclosure or compulsory quarantine in what is now known as the Fifth Wave.

So, dream is over. Get back to work.

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Ben Kwok

EJ Insight writer

Hong Kong

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