Mark Six (Chinese: 六合彩; Jyutping: luk6 hap6 coi2; Cantonese Yale: luhkhahpchói) is a lottery game organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
At the time, winning the Mark Six jackpot would allow a person to buy an apartment flat in Tsim Sha Tsui, which cost, on average, HK$80,000.
[11] That arrangement was later expanded to include both Saturdays and Sundays, to be held on a day with no horse races scheduled.
[11] There is a precedent for HKJC officials to delay Mark Six drawings when there is a big accumulated jackpot (Chinese: 多寶), so as to allow people extra time to buy a ticket.
Employees with HKJC's security and customer service departments will strictly check and test all materials used for the draw, from boxing to transport.
Save for a period between 1997 and 2001, Asia Television was the sole terrestrial broadcaster of Mark Six lottery drawings until July 2015.
[16] Certain hosts of the televised drawings have gone on to become popular media personalities, including Ha Chun Chau (born Kenneth Ng Kam-tsuen, Sandra Ng's father)[16] and Frankie Choi, who has hosted the televised drawings on both ATV and TVB, and is affectionately referred to by the local media as "Prince of Mark Six".
[19] The televised drawings are known for featuring the song "Inkpot" by Dutch band Shocking Blue as its background music.
25% of the total amount of bets made are paid out to the Government of Hong Kong in the form of a lottery duty.
[21] 15% of the total amount of bets made are deposited into a Lotteries Fund used for financing social welfare capital projects.
[21] In the 2016–2017 fiscal year, Mark Six drawings contributed approximately HK$1.276 billion to the Lotteries Fund.
[22] 6% of the total amount of bets made are paid out to the HKJC as commission,[9] which is used to cover various operating costs.