People may be wary of crowded places due to the coronavirus outbreak, but that is not stopping punters from trying their luck at a $12 million prize pool.

Long queues were seen around Singapore Pools outlets throughout the day for this year's Toto Hong Bao Draw.

Each of the four outlets visited by The New Paper yesterday had more than 30 people in the queue, with the line at the Toa Payoh FairPrice outlet reaching around 50 people.

A punter, who declined to be named, said he would be placing a $5 bet as he joined the queue at FairPrice.

The Housing Board employee, 64, said: "From what I read on the news, I'm not too scared and I'm not avoiding crowds. Life goes on as normal."

At Bishan, a beautician with the Jean Yip group joined a 30-person queue while wearing a mask.

She said: "I am fine queueing as long as the place is safe and I have a mask. But I wouldn't buy 4D from a place with actual cases."

Another hopeful punter at Bishan said the virus outbreak has affected his paper carrier manufacturing business. However, he was not placing bets in hope of recovering his losses.

He said: "I am just placing bets like I normally do to have a shot at an early retirement."

The $12 million jackpot will be drawn today at 9.30pm at the Singapore Pools Building.