Mohammad Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi expatriate, won Dh150,000 (nearly Tk50 lakh) in Big Ticket’s weekly e-draw series 276 held in Abu Dhabi.
Mohammed Chowdhury, 41, has been a resident of UAE for the past 20 years. After hearing about Big Ticket about 12 years earlier, he and his friends have participated in the raffle draw every month since.
He finally struck gold with the ticket number 217437, reports Gulf News on Friday. Chowdhury works as a house driver and also runs a small business as well.
Describing his winning moment, when the show host called to break the good news, Chowdhury was caught off guard. “Really! I can’t believe it. What am I supposed to do?” Chowdhury asked.
“This is a good amount. I’m so happy,” he added. “I’ve been part of a few groups pooling money to buy tickets. Some groups have five people, others 10 or even 20. I’m the one who buys the tickets.”
He shared that he is part of several groups that pool funds to purchase tickets. Some of these groups may have a number of people—from five all the way up to 20. For this draw, Chowdhury purchased the ‘Buy 2, Get 4 Free’ ticket bundle with his group and it was one of the free tickets that secured their win.
“It’s an unexplainable feeling. Right now, the plan is to split the cash prize among my 10 friends, and then I’ll decide what to do with my share,” he said, noting that he can now afford to expand his business.
However, his ticket is still in contention for the Dh25 million grand prize (an estimated Tk83 crore) on July 3, and he is keeping his fingers crossed for another call. “My eyes are now on the grand prize. Big Ticket is really helping people’s dreams come true, and I encourage my friends and everyone else to take part.”
This is not the first instance of a Bangladeshi to win this lottery. In March earlier this year, Bangladeshi expat Jahangir Alom won an astounding Dh20 million (over Tk65 crore) in the Abu Dhabi Big Ticket draw. And in October 2024, Abul Monsur, a Bangladeshi hailing from Chattogram, also secured the same prize amount in the same lottery.
Established in 1992 at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Big Ticket is the largest and longest-running raffle draw in the region, usually offering winners with cash prizes or luxury cars.
