Kenya’s betting millionaires: PHOTOS

Peter Byegon,left receives the SportPesa mega Jackpot dummy cheque of Sh 36,089,533 from Andrew Sikwe of SportPesa on December 20, 2016. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Samuel Abisai becomes the latest winner of a mega jackpot, one worth Sh221 million.
  • The previous winner of a comparable jackpot in Kenya was Geoffrey Kung'u, who collected Sh100 million from Lotto 6/49 in December 2016.

Dalliance with lady luck in the betting and gambling craze has seen more than a few winners smiling all the way to the bank.

Gambling is not a new phenomenon in Kenya, only that before, it used to be limited to scratch cards or making those calls to the TV shows to answer the easiest of questions.

Granted, SportPesa made it easier for people to gamble – on one’s phone – and made it possible for them to bet on sports without having to use credit cards or other payment modes that international betting sites required.  

Since then, there have been a slew of other companies that offer straight-to-your-phone betting facilities.

This has made it easier for the average Joe or Jane to pursue the dream of making millions by simply transferring money from their mobile phone straight to the betting company they desire and placing bets, depending on what odds they seem to fancy.

The winners have been collecting anywhere from tens of shillings to hundreds of millions of shillings. Gone are the days when we would be astonished when someone won Sh5 million, a vehicle or a house in raffles conducted by supermarkets, mobile communications companies or banks.

Samuel Abisai becomes the latest winner of a mega jackpot, one worth Sh221 million. The previous winner of a comparable jackpot in Kenya wasGeoffrey Kung'u, who collected Sh100 million fromLotto 6/49 in December 2016.

Other past winners include:

  • Ahmed Ali won Sh41 million on the same weekend as Abisai from SportPesa
  • Peter Byegon won Sh36 million in December 2016 from SportPesa
  • Quintet Nimo Chemei and Julius Kerich each won Sh31 million in March 2017 from SportPesa
  • George Mwangi was the first “big money” jackpot winner when he won Sh29.5 million back in September 2015
  • Francis Kaguri won Sh23.8 million in July 2016 from SportPesa.
  • Joseph Onywera won Sh20 million from Betway.

Of course, other jackpots have been won since Andrew Mghanga won more than Sh5 million in July 2014 to become the first SportPesa jackpot winner.