Lottery winner expected a free play but then found out he was a millionaire
A lottery winner in Edmonton says he was expecting a free play when he scanned his ticket and never expected to find out he was a fresh millionaire.
Gary Espartero took home one of the Maxmillions prizes from the October 7 Lotto Max draw after he decided to check his tickets after the draw.
He didn’t win the jackpot, but he still wanted to check and see if he had picked up another prize – to make it easier, he headed out to a nearby store to use a self-checker. When he scanned his ticket, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I was expecting something low, like a free play, but then all of a sudden there were a lot of
numbers on the screen,” he told the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) as he claimed his prize. “I thought the machine was broken!”
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To be sure, Gary then brought his ticket to the cashier, who checked it using their terminal.
“They confirmed it was a win, and I threw my hands in the air!” said Espartero.
“I shouted, and everyone at the store was cheering for me,” he added. “I called my
daughter and asked how much money was in her bank account — she thought I was asking
for money.”
Espartero then called his other daughter, Christine, and told her to come home and
that it was urgent.
“I was in the gym and they kept bothering me – they said it was an emergency,” she said.
When he told his daughters their father was now a millionaire, it was an emotional scene.
“I couldn’t believe it – I started crying,” recalled Christine.
He purchased his winning ticket from Westgate Rexall at 9540 163rd Street NW in Edmonton a few hours before the draw. They won by matching all seven numbers to the winning Maxmillions numbers – 12, 27, 29, 35, 36, 41, and 44.
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