Dedicatedly buying tickets from the time the German and Mexican Housie
commenced in Goa, the goddess of luck finally smiled upon Francis Estevan
Pereira, a resident of Navelim. Francis was the lucky person who won a prize
amounting to Rs 50,000. “I love playing housie and from the time HCN started
the Housie programme, I have been buying three tickets every week from the
local agent. Since the game is played on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I keep
myself free to tune in,” says Francis. Francis’ housie ticket won the prize on
Saturday’s German Housie show. “Earlier, I had won an amount of Rs 300 and Rs
500 but since this was a huge amount, my agent asked me to directly contact the
HCN office. This win is quite unbelievable. But I used to always pray to God and I had
faith that one day I would win,” says the emotional winner.
Interestingly, Francis was so confident of winning that he had promised all his
friends and relatives a treat in advance. “I
gave them a treat before even collecting
my prize. My lucky number is 3, as it is the
feast of St Francis Xavier and I share the
same name. I always buy a ticket which
has 3 as its first number,” he says as he
shows off his ticket.
Francis was earlier working as the
chief cook and catering officer for the
Great Eastern Shipping Company and
Paramount Shipping Company. After
retirement, almost 25 years ago, he
started working as a motorcycle pilot as
the retirement pension was not enough to
support his family. “I have stopped riding
the bike because of my knee problems.
God has answered my prayers by giving
me this money when I needed it most,”
concludes Francis.
