2 share $10.5m Toto top prize March 3, 2007

THE annual Toto Hongbao Draw chose its biggest-ever individual winners last night - splitting the $10.5 million grand prize between just two tickets.

The winning numbers are 5, 6, 16, 17, 28, 35 and the additional number is 14.

To get the grand prize, a ticket must have all the first six numbers, while the additional number is used for smaller payouts.

This is the first time that the pot is being split between just two tickets. The previous largest individual payout was in 2001, when the top prize was shared among three winners.

This year, one of the winning tickets was bought at an outlet in Bedok North Avenue 3 by a person who picked the numbers himself.

The other winner is a QuickPick ticket bought from an outlet in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10.

QuickPick refers to tickets with numbers randomly generated by computers.

Last night, some 530 people were at the Singapore Pools office in Selegie Road to witness the draw.

Retiree Mah Leong Kok was there, too, having bought about $20 worth of tickets.

He took along two steamed cakes, called huat kueh, hoping they would bring him luck.

'Huat' is the word for 'striking it rich' in the Hokkien dialect. Two years ago, the cakes brought him luck and he won more than $1,000 in a Toto draw, he said.

Since it was launched in 2000, the Toto Hongbao Draw has paid out some $163 million in prize money, not including this year's winnings.