UAE’s lucky millionaires relive moments of joy after winning top Mahzooz prize

A motley crew of winners of Mahzooz talk of how they kept their faith in dame luck going, despite kerfuffle over challenges of expat life in the Emirates

Mahzooz means ‘lucky’ in Arabic.

And as these heart-warming tales show, people from diverse nationalities and all walks of life have been lucky while chasing their Mahzooz dreams.

Consider the case of Reece, a British national, who has been working as a manager at a gymnasium in the UAE for the past four years. He is a lucky groom who won Dh10 million prize just before his wedding. The 26-year-old had heard of Mahzooz from his colleagues, and he has been trying his luck since the weekly draw was launched in 2020.

Reece

Though he had won Dh1,000 in an earlier attempt, the paltry sum did not damper his spirit. The day he won Dh10 million, he had second thoughts about choosing number 15 for his line. Rather than opt for number 15, he chose 16, and he said that was the best decision he had ever made in his life.

The first thing Reece told his fiancé after winning was “We won”. It was an overwhelming moment for Reece and his fiancé, who had spent 18 months planning and saving for their dream wedding with contributions from their respective families as well. The couple received the biggest surprise of their lives from Mahzooz.

With their first child on the way, the couple wants to invest their big win wisely to afford the comforts of a growing family.

Engin with Farid Samji, Chief Executive Officer of EWINGS LLC

Similarly, Engin, a 33-year-old civil engineer from Turkey who has lived in Dubai for two years, has been taking part in Mahzooz since March 2021.

Engin, a quality manager for a private company who had previously won Dh1,000 with Mahzooz, learned about the weekly raffle draw from promotional activities. According to Engin, there is no secret to winning Mahzooz.

He allows the universe to determine the numbers for him rather than basing them on his birthday, anniversary, or any other date. When Engin received the call from Mahzooz informing him of his Dh10million win, he struggled to process it and began to shake uncontrollably. Engin described this sensation to be “pure bliss”.

However, in retrospect, he was astonished by how accurate his intuition had been.

Engin and his professional photographer wife intend to settle down permanently in the UAE and plan to invest in real estate facing the iconic Palm Jumeirah.

Junaid Rana with Farid Samji, Chief Executive Officer of EWINGS LLC. Photo: Shihab

Junaid Rana, the first grand prize winner of Mahzooz, who received Dh50 million, doesn’t require an introduction.

Junaid, a proud UAE resident, has spent more than three decades of his life in Dubai and has lived in the country since he was a six-month-old baby. The 36-year-old Pakistani expatriate considers the UAE to be his first home.

He attributes his success as a millionaire to the prayers of his mother, wife, and the unborn third child.

Junaid has been participating in Mahzooz since its inception, and on the day, he won the grand prize, he chose his numbers at random. Junaid didn’t even know he had won until he had a chance conversation with his co-worker who said that a participant at Mahzooz had won the grand prize of Dh50 million. With the money from his big win, Junaid bought a house for his family.

Hamdi

Take the case of Hamdi, a French-Tunisian national and a die-hard football fan, who won the Dh10milliom grand prize in the 56th weekly live Mahzooz draw.

The Abu Dhabi resident became a multimillionaire overnight after matching five out of the five winning numbers. Those numbers made the 38-year-old TV producer Mahzooz’s 20th millionaire only because of a timely change of heart he had.

“I stepped out of my house for some fresh air, and I remembered I hadn’t participated in Mahzooz. I picked a few numbers without much thought and replaced 48 with 47 when I recollected 48 was one of previous week’s winning numbers,” said the father of two children.

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