A ‘hard-working’ man has won $46.6million after he accidentally bought the same ticket twice in one of the biggest lotto draws this year.
When lottery staff called the man – described as a ‘hard-working man from St Albans’ – to tell him the good news, he said: ‘You’re kidding!’
‘Am I seeing things? I just checked my entry online and I think I know what you’re about to tell me.
‘I’m speechless. I can’t believe it… I just finished work for the night,’ he said.
One lucky punter has won more than $40 million after he bought two winning tickets in one of the biggest lotto draws this year
The man bought a ticket at Winning Lotteries St Albans and then accidentally bought another one with the same numbers at Footscray Lottery Centre.
Each ticket for Tuesday night’s $70 million Oz Lotto Jackpot won him $23.3million.
There was another winner of $23.3million in Hobart who is yet to claim their prize.
The man said he had been playing the same numbers for thirty years.
‘I play every week. I have always marked my entries but I have never chosen the numbers on anything in particular. They weren’t special before, but they are now,’ he said.
Talking about what to do next, the man said: ‘I need time for the news to register.
‘I might think about retiring. First maybe a new home or a holiday.
‘I’ll definitely share it with my family.’
A spokesman for lottery organisers The Lott, Matt Hart, described the draw as ‘remarkable.’
‘What’s remarkable about tonight’s draw is that there were three division one entries, but two winners,’ he said.
‘The reason for this, the two Victorian entries are held by the one registered player.’
The lucky punter will walk away with a cool $46.6 million after an accidental – and very fortunate – blunder.
The Victorian bought two – of the three – winning Division One tickets in the $70 million Oz Lotto Jackpot for Tuesday night
‘We spoke to the player this evening,’ Mr Hart said.
‘We were very eager to give him him the news.
‘He purchased an entry, he had the same marked numbers he uses all the time, but in a bit of confusion, he ended up buying the same marked entry twice.’
On what the lucky winner plans to do as a multi-millionaire, Mr Hart said it sounded like he intended to leave his job.
‘He may not have that motivation to work anymore.
‘He’s certainly a hard-working man that’s worked very much for all his life and his family. Perhaps it’s time for a well-earned rest there. Certainly a new house, a family holiday is on the horizon for that winner as well.’
While the punter celebrates his once-in-a-lifetime win, the hunt is on for the third winning ticket holder – who will get the remaining $23.3 million.
And according to Mr Hart, the holder of that winning ticket is from Tasmania – and they might not yet even know they’ve won.
‘The other entry is an unregistered entry that was purchased at Hobart City Lotto,’ Mr Hart said.
‘So we don’t have their contact details and someone is going to awaken hopefully tomorrow, check their ticket and discover they have won more than $23.3 million.’
The mammoth win comes after six weeks of the jackpot not turning up any winners – last Tuesday’s draw reached a staggering $50 million.
Though the seventh week proved to be a charm, with winning numbers: 12, 28, 24, 29, 9, 18 and 25 and supplementary numbers 13 and 31.
The $70 million prize stands as the game’s biggest jackpot this year, and the third highest Australian lottery offer in 2019.
Last year, 20 punters won the division one Oz Lotto and took home a total $253.7 million.
‘What’s remarkable about tonight’s draw is that there were three division one entries, but two winners,’ The Lott spokesman Matt Hart (pictured) said