Punters queuing up at Nex mall in Serangoon to buy Toto tickets for the draw tomorrow.

Throngs have been flocking to Singapore Pools outlets in the hopes of winning the annual Toto Hong Bao Draw jackpot, which will take place tomorrow at 9.30pm.

This year's snowballed jackpot prize money of $13.6m is the second-highest ever, eclipsed only by the $13.9 million jackpot in the 2016 Hong Bao draw.

In order to tilt the overwhelming odds in their favour, some punters go to "lucky spots" - outlets that have sold tickets to winners before.

They include the Ng Teo Guan Self Service outlet in Ubi and the NTUC FairPrice Serangoon Central Hypermart outlet at Nex shopping mall.

People at these outlets yesterday afternoon waited in line for at least half an hour to buy their lottery tickets.

Dim sum helper Ms Cynthia, 64, who caps her bets at $20, travelled specifically to the Nex outlet to tap on the good fortune of the place.

She told The New Paper: "People strike quite frequently at this outlet, so I try my luck here."

Some, like Mr Rajaratnam, 55, who works in construction, are drawn to such outlets simply because of the intrigue caused by the snaking queues.

While waiting in line at the Ubi outlet, he said: "I only bet sometimes, maybe once a month... When I came here and saw a lot of people, I decided to join the queue."

While the buzz builds to tomorrow's draw, several people TNP spoke to said they were not getting carried away.

Mr Joseph Chua, 38, who buys Toto regularly, is increasing his regular bet only slightly for the hongbao draw. He usually spends two to four dollars, but will increase it to $10 this time.

Retiree Phillip Tay, 62, always places a $1 bet and he is not changing anything.

He said: "To me, if you are lucky, just one dollar will get you there."