‘Take gambling as a game’

The Malawi Gaming Board (MGB) has urged people to take gambling as a game and not an investment and play it with their heads and not their pockets.

MGB compliance manager Lawrence Chikoko gave the advice to gamblers in Lilongwe after one gambler, who refused to be identified, won K13 650 702.40 (US$34 127) at DBR also known as Good Hope Investments next to Lilongwe Hotel recently.

He said: “It is good that people are patronising places where there are gambling machines. This helps them to interact and share ideas, but if they are lucky, they can also win some money. My humble plea and advice is that they should gamble responsibly because this is a game and not an investment.”

Chikoko commended officials of Good Hope Investments for honouring their promise to reward the winner. He said this has set a good example to the gaming fraternity.

Good Hope Investments manager Fatsani Chithumba said it was encouraging  that the winner of the K13 million was not a regular gambler, but a novice.

“This person was not a real gambler. He was even asking how he could use the machines and luckily enough he hit a jackpot and his life will never be the same. I would like to encourage people to come to our place to gamble because once they hit the jackpot, they get their money,” he said.

The winner of the jackpot said he is going to complete constructing his house and venture into other businesses.