Samuel Abisai has persevered the pangs of hunger and the depth of poverty in the streets. At some point, pushed by circumstances, he tried his hands at hawking paper bags to put food on the table.
The University of Nairobi graduate in Chinese language has been doing a sales job, after unsuccessfully looking for office employment.
But that is beginning to sound a distant past after the 28-year-old won the SportPesa Jackpot of Ksh221 million, the highest ever payout in Africa’s gaming industry.
On Sunday 30th April, entered the history books after he was picked for the Ksh221,301,602 million in last week’s SportPesa Mega Jackpot for correctly predicting the outcomes of 17 games. He becomes the first to win the Mega Jackpot which was started in September 2016 at Ksh100 million.
So humble has been his life that he still lives with his sister in Kasarani estate, Nairobi. Today, he said goodbye to the life of want to a king’s opulence, as he stepped from their house onto a red carpet and into waiting limos to Carnivore grounds to get his fat cheque.
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He said the win was unbelievable but very good news. “When I was called by the SportPesa CEO (Ronald Karauri) in the middle of the night, I was so happy. I was standing outside a petrol station jumping up and down so much so, that the boda boda operators who were close by wondered what was happening,” he recounted.
Young Abisai, who vowed he will never bet again, had unsuccessfully gunned for the coveted Mega Jackpot four times. In his betting history, he says that he managed to win Ksh30,000 in December 2016.
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After carefully following on the outcomes of 15 matches of the MJP, Abisai said he started celebrating with friends as he had already reached the threshold for bonus payouts not knowing he will eventually win the top prize.
“I will use this win to improve the welfare of my parents and entire family,” said the young Kenyan who speaks fluent Mandarin, which he studied at the University of Nairobi and in China.
Winning strategy
Abisai mostly plays the mid-week Jackpot and Mega Jackpot games using extra money he earns. In last week’s Mega Jackpot, he spent Ksh200 to place two Mega Jackpot bets, one of which earned him Ksh221 million. He normally places his bets through the SportPesa website, which he said was user-friendly.
“I come from a family of 12. I have eight sisters and four brothers. My life has not been easy but thankfully at some point I got help from an NGO called Compassion,” he said.
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He continues: “When I got to university, I got a packed economics class and thought that my chances would of finding a job would be limited given the number of students. When the university introduced Chinese when I was in my second year, I switched courses.”
On top of the Mega Jackpot winner, SportPesa also gave a cheque of Ksh41 million to Qatar-based Ahmed Ali who won bonuses on the Mega Jackpot in his second gamble. Ali said that he would not go back to Qatar where he worked saying that he would venture into business locally.
[crp]
