By Jojo Dass
For Dubai Vibes Magazine
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: They had, for the past four years, been planning to tie the knot. And when everything was finally set to the last detail, the groom had a surprise gift: AED10 million in the Mahzooz grand draw that he won five days before the wedding.
“I froze for a minute,” said 26-year-old Reece, gym manager who hails from Luton, north of London when asked, at a press conference, how it went for him upon learning he has won.
“I stared at my phone. This is an incredible amount of money. It will change our lives. I have never expected that win. The first night, I couldn’t sleep,” said Reece.
“On the night of the draw at around half past 11 pm, I casually went to the website to check the results and noticed that the winning numbers looked familiar. I went and checked my Mahzooz account and was stunned to see that I was a winner!” he exclaims.
Reece so far is the youngest to win the grand prize. He started participating in the draws two years ago, he said. He arrived in Dubai four years back.
Reece said he had won once – AED1,000 “and it was a great amount,” he said. But a Filipino friend won AED1 million in the same draw and that, Reece said, inspired him to keep trying his luck.
“Mahzooz gives you options to unlock that next level of luck,” Reece said at the press briefing held at the Ewings office in Business Bay. The company is the managing operator of Mahzooz.
Reece, who told reporters he will still keep his gym job, also said he and his wife, as well as the rest of the family, were still finalizing what to do with the money.
“I want to buy a property…to have my own place. The property market here in Dubai is incredible. I also love to have my wife a new car,” he said.
But before money is actually spent, Reece said he will ask for sound financial advice from his cousin in the United Kingdom who runs a consultancy firm.
Reece got married to his wife, also British, yesterday, Thursday, July 14. He won last Saturday, July 9.
Reece is the third AED10 million Mahzooz grand prize winner in four weeks’ time – the first being a civil engineer from Turkey, the second, an IT engineer from India.
Reece won in Mahzooz’s 84th grand draw.
Farid Samji, CEO of EWINGS said: “We are delighted that the Mahzooz win came in at such a milestone in Reece’s life, just days before his wedding. Now, the young couple can plan for the future without any financial anxiety, thanks to the life-changing win.
“In a span of four weeks, we had three top prize winners, and we hope that this positive trend will continue and that more people will soon be living the Mahzooz dream.”
Reece could get lucky once again and win a further 1 KG of gold at the Golden Summer Draw that will be held on 30 July. Throughout the month of July, everyone who participates in the weekly draws also stands a chance to win a kilogram of gold.
Participating in Mahzooz is as simple as registering via www.mahzooz.ae and purchasing a bottle of water for just AED 35.
The top prize of AED 10,000,000 for matching all five numbers is up for grabs every week, as is the second prize of AED 1,000,000 and the third prize of AED 350. Every week, Mahzooz also holds a raffle draw that awards a guaranteed prize of AED 300,000, shared equally among three winners.
All water bottles purchased by the participants are channelled through Mahzooz’s community partners to hydrate those in need.
