Who wants to be a millionaire?
Friday 31st October 2008, 2:30PM GMT.
Friends of Les Bourgs chairman Jack Honeybill will tell someone they are a millionaire in February after its fund-raising lottery draw. (Photo montage by Peter Frankland)
A NEW lottery could make one lucky islander a millionaire. Just 5,000 tickets, costing £300 each, have been printed for the Million Pound Lottery.
As well as the £1m. top payout, there will be a second prize of £50,000, a third of £25,000, fourth of £15,000 and fifth of £10,000.
The idea – similar to one held twice before in Jersey – will raise money for Les Bourgs Hospice. It is a completely separate draw to the popular Christmas Lottery in December. The new one will take place in February.
‘There’s 5,000-to-1 odds of becoming a millionaire,’ said Friends of Les Bourgs chairman Jack Honeybill. ‘It’s fantastic.
‘The organisers in Jersey have said it was the most wonderful feeling in the world telling someone they were a millionaire. I am really looking forward to it.’
The result will be known on Valentine’s Day, 14 February, when the winning numbers will be drawn.
- For more information visit www.millionpoundlottery.com.
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where can i buy tickets for the £million ?
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Click the link at the foot of the story for further information.
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you tell me how local people can afford tickets like this ,who ever thought of this should be shot ?? or are they taking the mickey out of the low earners trying to make people feel bad who but states members can afford tickets like this £300 why dont you say only people with money can win money ?? idiots
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There is certainly something a little elitist about this lottery. If ever a scheme was devised to give the have-nots a sense of being excluded from a gaggle of wealthy individuals, this is it. The charity to gain from this lottery is obviously very deserving, but I do feel the insensitivity of Deputy Honeybill and his cohorts shines through a little too brightly.
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I agree – £300 a ticket is beyond the boundaries of most of us apart from the wealthy. On the other hand the odds are good so it could lead to some gamblers taking out loans that they cannot afford in the hope that they are one of the lucky winners.
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John,
Whilst it is quite true that most normal working class people could not afford a ticket at £300 each the possibility of buying a ticket as part of a syndicate of say 6-10 people would be an option open to many others – I’m sure most of us could find a few people who would be up for a ticket share – its money for an excellent cause after all!
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Kevin…still a devide factor, even with six to ten in a syndicate….there are folk out there who would find £50, or £30, hard to come by as spare floating cash.
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A lottery to benefit one charity? Can I start one or is that just the preserve of connected politicians?
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Indeed, Jackie, and while we’re about it – why pay a million? For goodness sake, if you want to raise money why be so extravagant? It stinks of the obsession this Island has for publicity through wealth. Who benefits more, a charity, or the undoubtedly already wealthy owner of the winning ticket? And Jack Honeybill for being so ‘imaginative’.
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If all the charities set up a similar lottery and people who had won previous lotteries were not allowed to participate, then, with time, we would all be millionaires…or am I just being facetious? Hard to tell in these Alice In Wonderland days in which we live.
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You’re all losing the plot.
Be realistic – there can’t be many people who can’t afford to enter a work syndicate with £10 or £20.
Its a bit of fun.
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Why is everybody being so negative? You have to be in it to win it. With the odds being 5000 to 1 one lucky person is going to be chirping. To those that are complaining if you feel the ticket price is too high then pop into the bookies instead. A charity is going to benefit from this. It would be nice if the lifeboat organisation was to do a similar thing. It would be well supported.
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Surely this is a good thing, the hospice relies on charitable donations to keep going, if people can afford to help the hospice in this way, this can only be good for the hospice. I fully understand if people cannot afford the ticket, and times are hard for a lot of people, but people should stop putting everything down. Try looking for the good in peoples actions, it will be a great weight of your shoulders, or in some cases liberating to remove that chip from their shoulder !!
This looks simple:
1) Buy a ticket …and good luck to you
2) Form a syndicate and buy a ticket…and good luck to you
3) Dont buy a ticket….and good luck to you
Good luck to the hospice and good luck to everyone who enteres.
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Some simple mathematics….ticket sales will make £1,500,000. Prize money is £1,100,000 meaning Les Bourgs will get £400,000. So, of the £300 spent for a ticket, only £80 will go to Les Bourgs and that’s assuming admin / advertising costs won’t be taken out of the pot as well.
Therefore what you’re effectively doing is giving an £80 donation and having a £220 bet on a 1 in 5000 chance of winning. Doesn’t sound so “amazing” now. So if you don’t fancy gambling £220 on a 1 in 5000 shot, give an £80 donation to Les Bourgs – either as a syndicate or individually if you can afford it. You’ll still be helping a good cause and getting far better value!
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There are good points about syndicates getting together. Reading Paul’s mathematics though it is true that not many people would gamble £220 with a 1:5000 chance of winning.
I guess the chance of being the winner and also believing that you are helping a very worthwhile cause will be the factor that justifies most people entering.
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Ah lotteries eh? the poor man’s tax so they say.
Setting aside the greed factor for a moment. Jack Honeybill is risking the Christmas Charities Draw benefits for ALL charities for his own personal crusade.
He’s well and truly compromised on this. A C&L seat and organising alternative to the Christmas Draw is a little bit cynical in my view.
But you carry on thinking about the million quid.
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Whilst I am a supporter of Les Bourgs – I find this lottery a bit of a nonsense in 2 ways…
A) The rich get richer… There is no way I could afford a ticket this close to christmas – I got taught ‘you should only gamble what you can afford to lose’ – I dont know many people who can afford to lose £300!
B) We have to wait 12 months for a decent lottery & then 2 come along at once – would it have been such a problem to wait until May Jun 2009 to do this lottery?? This way the christmas draw wouldnt suffer (& it will)….
Once again – it is a case of faliure to engage brains before going public…
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I think it is a great idea if you can afford it. We have a synicate of 10 people in ours and we are hoping to win something! We don’t care how much.
Also it is for a good cause as well which is dear to my heart as no-one knows when they or a relative might need Les Bourgs Hospice.
I say good luck to everyone who bought a ticket and to others to stop whining about the rich getting richer etc.
Most of the people that I saw queuing up to buy a ticket on the first day looked liked ordinary working people to me but who knows they might have been in disguise!!!
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