Canadian Finds Lottery Ticket Worth C$1.75 Million In Old Coat
A man from Montreal has thanked his sister for telling him to clean out his wardrobe, after he found a lottery ticket worth C$1.75 million in an old jacket. It had been forgotten about for almost ten months, but luckily for Gregorio De Santis he was still able to come forward in time to claim his prize.
De Santis bought the ticket last winter, ahead of the Lotto 6/49 draw on 6th December 2017. He was completely unaware that he was one of four players to match the winning numbers, grabbing a share of the C$7 million jackpot, until he was encouraged to do a few chores last week.
He came across the ticket while he was getting some clothes ready for donation, and thought he might as well check to see if it was worth anything. When it was initially validated, he thought he had won C$1,750 and was delighted with his good fortune. It turned out he had won 1,000 times that much, and he says it felt as if his heart almost stopped.
Still in a state of shock when he visited Loto-Quebec headquarters on Friday to pick up his oversized cheque, De Santis was quick to give credit to his sister. He said: “I would never have looked in that closet without her.”
It is a good job that De Santis found the ticket when he did, as the claim period is just one year. If he had come forward after 6th December 2018, the ticket would no longer have been valid and he would not have received his money.
De Santis revealed that he had been playing the lottery since the 1970s and had also had a win of C$4,000 in the early 2000s. He will not rush into spending his winnings as he wants it to help him during his retirement, but he might take his nephew to some hockey games.
How To Play Lotto 6/49
Lotto 6/49 has been played in Canada since 1982 and gives you the chance to become a millionaire every Wednesday and Saturday evening. You just need to select six numbers from 1 to 49, and you can take part online or by visiting an authorised retailer in Canada.
There are seven ways to win in every draw, so you can pick up prizes just for matching two main numbers, right up to the jackpot for matching all six. The jackpot starts at a minimum of C$5 million and keeps growing until it is won.
There is also a Guaranteed Prize Draw alongside the main game, where one raffle code is selected at random and the winner receives C$1 million. You are automatically entered into the Guaranteed Prize Draw when you buy a ticket.
The jackpot for the next draw will be worth C$7 million, following a rollover on Saturday. It was most recently last Wednesday, on 3rd October, when a player from Quebec banked C$40 million.