Billionairio Internet Lottery Offers $1 Billion Grand Prize

Unimint has announced the first ever global on-line raffle was launched. Billianairo, as the raffle is called, is claiming a 1 billion euro grand prize. All tickets must be sold for this immense payout.

The press release states that "closing numbers of major stock market indices will be used to determine the winning ticket number. There is scheduled to be 1,200 other prizes with winnings ranging from 1,000 to 10 million euro. Each ticket holder will have many chances to win. With regards to how the grand prize is chosen, Chris Strongman, managing director of Unimint said, "This will make the raffle safe and reliable."

In case you are wondering, the payout ratio is 66%. Tickets can only be purchased online. Strongman was quoted as saying, "The prize pool grows linear, meaning the more you play the more we pay out." Tickets can be bought at www.billionairio.com .

This is a world wide lottery. Most countries will be able to participate. Gaming laws in the United States do not allow financial institutions to process "gaming related credit card charges." This means if your country doesn't allow such practices, you will have to participate in another way. Strongman explains, "Residents of these countries can only participate by redeeming gift certificates, e-vouchers that are converted into valid tickets free of charge." Mr. Strongman goes on to say, "These vouchers can be purchased by anyone in countries where there is no limitation on payment transaction. We welcome every player, and have a mandate to observe international as well as local laws in order to preserve the integrity of our game."

The winner of the grand prize will be flown to Malta to claim their prize, in person. As a matter of fact, any winner, who has a ticket worth 1 million euros or more, will be flown to Malta. Financial services are being provided to the winners by HSBC. HSBC claims to be the world's local bank.

Chris Strongman is quoted in the press release as saying, "Funds will be transferred directly to the winner's bank account without any hold-backs or pro-rated payouts."

The auditor of Unimint is KPMG International. They are a world wide audit, tax and advisory service.

For a list of some of the more popular stock market indices, you can look at Wikipedia.

According to the press release, Unimint has been a EU member state since 2004. "Unimint operates under a Class 1 Gaming license from the LGA Malta. The Republic of Malta has emerged as a major hub of the global gaming industry."

Upon entering the site, I was informed that my IP address was identified as being from a country that would not allow credit card use to participate. The opening notice did say that I was still able to participate by obtaining a gift voucher from some one in another country that did allow credit card use.

A ticket is 25 euro, or about $35. The date for the jackpot drawing is listed as 12/27/2007. There is a date listed as 07/25/2007 for a 1,000 Euro drawing. That is $1,382.39. In English, the grand prize is worth over $1.3 billion.

Source: MMD Newswire; Billionairio, The First Truly Global On-Line Raffle Style Game