A man in Surrey, B.C., had to rely on a mall staff member to convince his disbelieving wife they had nabbed a $500,000 Lotto prize, after she first hung up the phone on him.
Dharamjit Singh scored the large sum of cash after matching four out of four Extra numbers from the March 18 Lotto Max draw.
Singh, who purchased his ticket at the lottery kiosk at the Scottsdale Centre in Delta, had nipped to the drugstore to pick something up when he self-scanned his ticket. Himself in disbelief, Singh had to run it through another scanner, and then another person, to confirm the win and determine just how large the cash prize was.
“The place where I purchased the ticket was close by, so I went there to check too. I didn’t realize I won $500,000 at first – the retailer helped me figure it out,” he said.
Singh said he was most excited to spill the beans to his wife, although she was just as difficult to convince as he had initially been.
“When I told her she didn’t believe me, and she hung up the phone. I had to have the retailer tell her I won so she would believe me,” he said.
Singh, touching on how the money will be “helpful”, said he will put his winnings towards paying off his mortgage and helping his children with paying off their student debt.
In 2024, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $54 million in winnings from the Extra, a $1 add-on game available to purchase with Daily Grand, Lotto 6/49, BC/49 and Lotto Max. The odds of winning a Lotto Max jackpot – either the main prize or a $1 million MaxMillions prize – are approximately one in 33 million, according to lottery officials.
