Mahzooz Lottery: What Happened, Why It Stopped and What Replaced It

Last updated: 7 August 2026

Mahzooz was the UAE's biggest weekly draw of the pre-regulation era, a Saturday-night fixture that created 66 millionaires before stopping at the end of 2023. Its website now states plainly that the draw "has permanently ceased operations". This is the full story: what Mahzooz was, the rules and prizes people still search for, why it stopped, and where its players can legally play today.

Key takeaways

• Mahzooz held its last draw on 30 December 2023 and paused ticket sales from 1 January 2024 under a UAE-wide mandate from the federal gaming regulator, the GCGRA. Its website now says the draw has "permanently ceased operations".
• The game began as Emirates Loto in April 2020, relaunched as Mahzooz in November 2020, and was run by Dubai-based operator Ewings. Entry cost Dh35, sold as a bottled-water purchase that was donated to people in need.
• At its peak the top prize was Dh50 million, won once in October 2021. The final format offered a Dh20 million top prize and a guaranteed Dh1 million raffle winner every week.
• Mahzooz and Emirates Draw both bid for the UAE's single national lottery licence. In July 2024 it went to The Game LLC, operator of the UAE Lottery, and neither old brand was awarded anything.
• A GCGRA advisory of 9 December 2024 named only three authorised lottery activities: the UAE Lottery, Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free. Mahzooz is not among them.
• The operator's own figures: 66 millionaires created, more than Dh529 million distributed to over 2.1 million winners.

Is Mahzooz still operating?

No. Mahzooz's last draw ran on 30 December 2023, episode 161, and no tickets have been sold since 1 January 2024. The homepage of mahzooz.ae now reads: "Mahzooz, previously a weekly draw in the UAE, has permanently ceased operations. The website remains active solely for informational purposes." Archived copies of the site show this notice has been in place since at least September 2025, and it is still the message as of August 2026.

The site survives as an archive of past shows and winner stories. Anything else claiming to be a live Mahzooz draw, whether an app, a WhatsApp message or a lookalike website, is fake. Our guide to spotting unlicensed gaming offers covers the usual patterns, and our separate piece on whether Mahzooz and Emirates Draw will ever return tracks the comeback question in detail.

What was Mahzooz?

Mahzooz began life as Emirates Loto, which launched in April 2020 as the UAE's first large-scale weekly lotto. After a four-month pause for system upgrades, it relaunched in November 2020 under the new name Mahzooz, Arabic for "fortunate", operated by Ewings, a Dubai-based company led by chief executive Farid Samji.

The format was a weekly live draw every Saturday at 9pm UAE time, streamed from a Dubai studio. Entry cost Dh35 per line, sold as the purchase of a bottle of water that was then distributed to people in need through community partners, a mechanic that kept the product framed as a purchase with a prize draw attached. Players could enter online at mahzooz.ae or through the brand's app, and the game was open to anyone aged 18 or over.

By the operator's own closing tally, Mahzooz drew more than 1.4 million participants, paid more than Dh529 million to over 2.1 million winners, and created 66 millionaires: one at Dh50 million, four at Dh20 million, 13 at Dh10 million, two at Dh5 million and 44 at Dh1 million, with more than Dh318 million in top prizes alone. Ewings gave a matching account to Khaleej Times in January 2024, citing 66 millionaires and over Dh500 million given away.

What were the Mahzooz rules and prizes?

The rules changed three times over the game's life, which is why older articles disagree with each other.

• November 2020 relaunch: players picked six numbers from 1 to 49. Matching all six won a share of a Dh50 million top prize; five numbers shared at least Dh1 million; four won Dh1,000; three won Dh35 or a free play. Entry was Dh35.
• 2022 revamp: the game moved to five numbers from 1 to 49. Top prizes of Dh10 million and Dh20 million were both won during 2022 under this format, and The National's report of the November 2022 Dh20 million win lists a shared Dh1 million second prize for matching four numbers and Dh350 for matching three.
• March 2023: Mahzooz doubled its advertised top prize to Dh20 million and added a guaranteed Dh1 million raffle winner every week, consolidating everything into the single Saturday 9pm draw.
• September 2023, "Mahzooz Saturday Millions": the final structure expanded the grand draw to five prize categories, with payouts starting from a single matched number, and three guaranteed raffle prizes of Dh100,000 each per week, per Khaleej Times' report of the announcement.

The single biggest win came early. On a Saturday night in October 2021, the 48th weekly draw produced Mahzooz's first grand prize winner: a UAE resident who matched all six numbers, 6, 11, 21, 32, 33 and 46, for Dh50 million, at the time the largest individual prize ever awarded in the UAE. Mahzooz later named him as Junaid. The final draw on 30 December 2023 also ended with a bang: Serhii from Ukraine and Zenobia from India shared the Dh20 million jackpot, Dh10 million each, and received their winnings at a Dubai ceremony after the pause.

Why did Mahzooz stop?

Mahzooz was still launching new prize structures weeks before it ended. Regulation stopped it.

In September 2023 the UAE announced the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA), a federal body for all commercial gaming. In late December 2023, Mahzooz and Emirates Draw both announced a "temporary pause" from 1 January 2024, in Mahzooz's words "in compliance with applicable commercial gaming regulations". The suspension was an industry-wide mandate with no resumption timeframe.

Behind the scenes, the regulator had decided there would be one national lottery. Ewings' head of communications Suzan Kazzi told Khaleej Times in January 2024 that the GCGRA had informed operators there would be only one national lottery licensee, and both Mahzooz and Emirates Draw applied. On 28 July 2024 the licence went to The Game LLC, which launched the UAE Lottery. Ewings called the outcome "disappointing" and said it was planning "new ventures"; no new public gaming product has appeared since.

The GCGRA then closed the question publicly. Its consumer advisory of 9 December 2024 stated that only the UAE Lottery, Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free were authorised lottery activities, with Big Ticket and Dubai Duty Free continuing as pre-existing airport draws under supervision. Mahzooz was not on the list, and it has never held a GCGRA licence.

What happened to Emirates Draw?

Emirates Draw, the other big weekly draw, paused on the same day and under the same mandate, having distributed more than Dh168 million to over 800,000 winners in under three years. Unlike Mahzooz, it kept operating abroad. The brand now runs internationally under Tycheros, an Isle of Man-based company, which a spokesperson said in December 2024 reaches participants in more than 175 countries. Its website remains restricted inside the UAE, no tickets are sold in the country, and it holds no GCGRA licence. The full picture is in our piece on whether Mahzooz and Emirates Draw will return.

Where do Mahzooz players go now?

The legal options in the UAE today are the three draws named in the GCGRA's December 2024 advisory:

• The UAE Lottery, run by The Game LLC, is the direct successor to Mahzooz: a federally licensed national draw whose flagship Lucky Day game offers a Dh30 million top prize every Wednesday and Saturday, alongside instant games from Dh2. Our UAE Lottery rules explainer has the current rulebook.
• Big Ticket, the Abu Dhabi airport raffle, runs monthly series with multi-million-dirham grand prizes.
• Dubai Duty Free runs the Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draws.

We compared all three in UAE Lottery vs Big Ticket vs Dubai Duty Free. Anything else marketed to UAE residents as a lottery is unlicensed, and the GCGRA warns that consumers who use unlicensed operators can face penalties themselves, a point covered in what is legal in UAE gaming right now.

FAQ

Is mahzooz.ae still a real website? Yes, but only as an archive. The official site remains online with past shows and winner stories, and states that operations have permanently ceased. No tickets can be bought and no draws are held.

Can I still withdraw money from my Mahzooz account? When operations paused, players were advised to withdraw remaining balances, and the final winners were paid at a ceremony in Dubai in early 2024. If you still have a balance, contact the operator through the official site; no updated refund process has been published since.

What was the biggest Mahzooz win ever? Dh50 million, won in October 2021 by a player Mahzooz later named as Junaid, who matched all six numbers in the 48th weekly draw. It was the only time the Dh50 million top prize was won.

Was Mahzooz legal when it was running? It operated openly in the years before the UAE had a gaming regulator or licensing system. Under the framework in force since 2024, only GCGRA-licensed activities are legal, and Mahzooz never received a licence.

Is Mahzooz coming back in 2026? There is no evidence of it. The operator lost the sole lottery licence in July 2024, the regulator's authorised list excludes it, and the company's own website says operations have permanently ceased.

Did Mahzooz and Emirates Draw stop at the same time? Yes. Both announced a pause in late December 2023 and stopped UAE ticket sales around 1 January 2024 under the same industry-wide mandate. Mahzooz's last draw was 30 December 2023; Emirates Draw stopped sales on 31 December 2023.

Further reading

• Will Mahzooz and Emirates Draw ever come back?
• UAE Lottery rules explained
• The Game LLC and the UAE's first lottery licence
• UAE Lottery vs Big Ticket vs Dubai Duty Free
• What is legal in UAE gaming right now

Sources

• Mahzooz, official website (closure notice and final tallies): https://www.mahzooz.ae/
• Internet Archive Wayback Machine, mahzooz.ae snapshots, September 2025 to June 2026: https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.mahzooz.ae/
• Al Arabiya, "UAE-wide suspension on prize draws, inc Mahzooz, Emirates Draw comes into effect", 2 January 2024: https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2024/01/02/UAE-wide-suspension-on-prize-draws-inc-Mahzooz-Emirates-Draw-comes-into-effect-
• The National, "Mahzooz, the UAE's Dh50 million weekly draw, is back and here's how to play it", November 2020: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/03/06/mahzooz-the-uaes-dh50-million-weekly-draw-is-back-and-heres-how-to-play-it/
• Khaleej Times, "UAE: Expat wins whopping Dh50 million at Mahzooz draw", 24 October 2021: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/dubai-mahzooz-draw-announces-dh50-million-winner
• The National, "Lucky winner scoops life-changing Dh20 million in Mahzooz draw", 13 November 2022: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/11/13/lucky-winner-scoops-life-changing-dh20-million-in-mahzooz-draw/
• Khaleej Times, "UAE: Mahzooz announces 'guaranteed' Dh1 million prize in weekly draw", 4 March 2023: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-mahzooz-announces-new-guaranteed-dh1-million-raffle-draw-every-week
• Khaleej Times, "UAE: 90,000 winners every week with Mahzooz's new prize structure", 22 September 2023: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-90000-winners-every-week-with-mahzoozs-new-prize-structure
• Khaleej Times, "UAE to get only one national lottery operator? Mahzooz, Emirates Draw explain", 15 January 2024: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-to-get-one-national-lottery-operator-mahzooz-emirates-draw-explain
• Khaleej Times, "UAE: Mahzooz plans 'new ventures' as first lottery licence awarded to The Game", 28 July 2024: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-mahzooz-plans-new-ventures-as-first-lottery-licence-awarded-to-the-game
• Khaleej Times, "Emirates Draw reveals future plans as unlicensed operators in UAE told to shut down", 10 December 2024: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/emirates-draw-reveals-future-plans-as-unlicensed-operators-in-uae-told-to-shut-down
• Gulf News, "Emirates Draw reveals Dh100million lottery winner is Sriram Rajagopalan", 22 May 2025: https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/emirates-draw-reveals-first-global-winner-of-dh100m-lottery-1.500137132
• Lotto.in, Mahzooz game archive: https://www.lotto.in/mahzooz/