12th September 2026 – (Hong Kong) A rare fault halted Saturday night’s Mark Six draw before the first ball could drop, forcing the Hong Kong Jockey Club to switch to a backup drum and numbered balls before the draw finished successfully.
Draw 99 was due at 9.30pm. Because a first-division winner had taken the previous jackpot, a single HK$10 unit stake tonight could have claimed about HK$8 million. Total betting before the draw stood at HK$42.59 million — a solid pool for a reset jackpot week that still left first-division hopes empty when the night ended.
On the live broadcast, all 49 balls kept circulating around the centre, yet none fell into the middle chute. The rising mechanism then lifted empty, so no first number was produced. Presenter Stephanie Lee Tsz-ching said the machine had failed and a reserve drum would be used, with the two independent guests watching the switch to keep the process fair.
Staff opened a box of spare numbered balls and loaded them into the backup machine’s chute in ascending order, from the lowest number to the highest. The monitors were Ho Wai-shek, JP, and Apple Tse Ho-yi, acting chief executive of the Hong Kong Christian Service. After the crew stepped back, the guests checked the balls and chute again before play resumed. The interruption lasted about four minutes from the stalled first ball to the restart.
The completed sequence was 9, 18, 24, 33, 40 and 47, with special number 11. Nobody matched the first division. Two second-division tickets split the pool at HK$752,820 each, while 92.5 third-division units paid HK$43,400 apiece. Further comment was being sought from the Jockey Club on the equipment failure.
The stoppage came amid heightened public attention on Mark Six payouts after a Food and Environmental Hygiene Department inspector was recently arrested over an alleged bid to pocket a roughly HK$30 million prize — separate from tonight’s mechanical hitch, but part of the wider lottery news cycle. For punters watching the live show, the visible swap of drum and balls, and the guest checks, were the clearest reassurance that the restart followed contingency rules rather than an abandoned draw. Separate accounts of the same night likewise said the club halted play and replaced the full set of balls before the second attempt succeeded.