In a bizarre turn of events, a 33 year old sales clerk and part time installation technician, walked into the Hollywoodbets Gauteng branch today, rightfully claiming his R1.9 million!
This came days after the company appealed to the public in search of the lucky winner, urging people to check their tickets. The popular bookmaker Hollywoodbets, which has 67 branches nationally, proudly announced that this is the largest payout so far, to a punter for this bet type, in its long and favourable history.
Andries, who did not want to divulge his surname or be photographed, described his destitution and scraping together R10 to buy a Powa Numbas ticket from Hollywood, in time for the South African Powerball on Tuesday, 17 February.
The father of two boys aged 4 and 13 said: “Two months back, the landlord wanted to kick me out, I have two children. He wanted to kick me out because I couldn’t pay my rent then they switched off my lights. Then the small one keep on asking me when are we going to get TV on? Then I asked my small one, let us kneel down and pray, he doesn’t even know how to pray. He asked me, what are we praying for? I said let us pray for the lights to be on … For two weeks, I didn’t have lights. I was buying take-aways up until the time when I didn’t have money anymore. I couldn’t even go to work for two weeks again, because I didn’t have money to go to work.”
He recently sold his wedding rings valued at R3000 for a meagre R500 in desperation and claims that he dreamt of the winning numbers. In his dream, he apparently triumphed over a tiger trying to kill him, which somehow translated into the winning numbers. He also added that the night of the dream, he slept at a customer’s house, because he didn’t have transport to go home.
Hollywoodbets Betting Operations Manager, Dermot O’Connell said: “Our huge winner, Andries, has recounted a remarkable tale of how he chose his lucky numbers. A poor man with a strong belief in his God, he dreamt of tigers and engines to find his numbers and now he has the chance to offer his children a better education, school uniforms and a roof over their heads. He has indicated his desire to start his own business and Hollywood wishes him all the success he deserves in his new venture.”
Hollywoodbets is well-known as South Africa’s premier betting brand and along with their 67 outlets, also offer betting via their website www.hollywoodbets.net and their mobile platform m.hollywoodbets.net
