"Swearing and excitement": A group of 52 people is splitting a lottery win
It’s set a record for the largest group to claim a single lottery prize in Western Canada, and 52 people in Saskatchewan have bigger bank accounts now.
Ashley Sieben, who claimed the $1 million MaxMillions prize on behalf of the 51 other group members, says he didn’t realize they had won until another member of the group called him.
“Check your tickets! We won, we won!” the other group member told Sieben. “We won a million dollars!”
Sieben told the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) he stopped what he was doing at that moment and met with another group member, who was with him when he scanned their ticket on the Lotto Spot! app.
After confirming the ticket was a winner, Sieben called his wife and told her to drive to Yorkton and buy a safe to protect the ticket.
“This will make everyone’s day!” Sieben told the WCLC. He spent the rest of the day contacting each group member and spreading the good news.
“Their reactions were the highlight of my day,” Sieben laughed while claiming the prize. “There was a bunch of swearing and excitement.”
The group started with about 40 friends four years ago and has grown from there to include friends of friends, but Sieben says they all know each other now and play together whenever the jackpot reaches $50 million.
They will share the prize money evenly, netting each member $19,230.76. He noted that there are many different plans for how each person will use the money, including trips, debt payments, and maybe even a boat.
Sieben purchased their ticket from Petro Canada at 505 Kaiser William Avenue E in Langenburg on the day of the draw. They won by matching all numbers for one of the MaxMillions drawn – 6, 7, 10, 11, 27, 34, and 36.