Mystery Lotto Max Jackpot Winner Comes Forward
A mystery Canada Lotto Max jackpot winner has come forward after seven weeks to collect his prize. Thirty-five year old Dwayne Williams from the Oshawa area of Ontario revealed himself as the only person to have matched all seven main balls in the April 2019 draw, laying claim to a $55 million jackpot.
The Whitby father of two visited the OLG headquarters in Toronto on Thursday, May 23rd, to collect his eight-figure jackpot winnings. He had purchased a winning ticket for the Lotto Max draw on April 5th from Walmart on Baldwin St in Whitby, but after discovering his newfound riches on Saturday 6th, he elected to take it slow – waiting nearly seven weeks to come forward.
The numbers for the April 5th Lotto Max draw were 1, 2, 16, 21, 23, 25, 28 and a Bonus Ball of 48. Williams was the only player to match all seven main numbers, and no one matched six numbers and the Bonus ball to win the second prize. There were eight MaxMillions draws on April 5th, only two of which were won.
The entrepreneur described the day he and his family learned they were Lotto Max millionaires. In the car on the way back from running errands, they heard on the radio that the winning ticket had been sold in Oshawa – leading them to joke about being the winners.
It was only when they got home, and Williams finally got around to checking his tickets, that he realised it was no joke: “I knew something looked different than usual… That’s when I focused on the $55, and thought at first I’d won $55,000 — but then I counted all the zeros.”
Asked to comment on the length of time he took to claim his millions, Williams said: “It’s such a life changing event. I wanted to think through the process, prepare for the future and clear my mind.” He went on to reveal some initial plans he had for the money, including a family holiday to Europe and a financial boost to his tech business.
Canada Lotto Max Changes
Changes were recently made to rules of Canada Lotto Max, creating bigger potential jackpots and more chances for you to win them. On May 11th, the jackpot cap was increased from $60 million to $70 million, and a second draw day was added, slated to take place every Tuesday. Two more prize tiers were introduced to give you more chances at winning a prize, and the number pool was increased from 49 to 50 – decreasing the overall odds to 1 in 7. The first of the draws to take place with these changes was held on Tuesday, May 14th.