27 January 26

Long weekend turns life-changing for Willoughby man with $1.2 million Saturday Lotto win

SNAPSHOT
  • A Willoughby man has had a sleepless long weekend after discovering he bagged $1.2 million in the weekend’s Saturday Lotto draw.
  • The Sydneysider held one of the five division one winning entries nationally in Saturday Lotto draw 4645 drawn Saturday 24 January 2026. Each division one winning entry scored $1,286,587.92.
  • Still reeling with excitement, the regular player shared how his 15-year tradition of playing his same set of numbers had paid off, and he couldn’t wait to purchase his very own home.
  • His winning marked 14-game entry was purchased from Hawthorne Newsagency, 81 Penshurst Street, Willoughby.

By Eliza Wregg

Updated 27 January 2026 - 11:44 am,

first published at 27 January 2026 - 11:43 am

A Willoughby man has had a sleepless long weekend after discovering he bagged $1.2 million in the weekend’s Saturday Lotto draw.

The Sydneysider held one of the five division one winning entries nationally in Saturday Lotto draw 4645 drawn Saturday 24 January 2026. Each division one winning entry scored $1,286,587.92.

When an official from The Lott called the newly-minted millionaire, he was still in awe of his win.

“Thank you very much!” he cheered.

“I’ve been playing the same numbers for probably 15 years. They’re nothing special, just a 14-game ticket I played all those years ago and just kept replaying.

“I actually was replaying the ticket at the newsagency when I realised the good news.

“The woman at the counter said I’d won a major prize. I asked, ‘How much? A few hundred? A few thousand?’.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so I just thought it was $1,000. Then I checked my ticket on The Lott website and I just went ‘Oh!’.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I feel so blessed and happy.

“I’m not going to tell anyone except my partner who I’ve already told.

“We’d like to buy a house, but we’ll wait to receive the money before making any decisions.”

His winning marked 14-game entry was purchased from Hawthorne Newsagency, 81 Penshurst Street, Willoughby.

Hawthorne Newsagency owner Samantha Zhong said she was thrilled for her winning customer.

“I was elated to hear the news, I felt so happy that one of our customers was able to win this prize and that the loyalty that they've all had to us over the years has finally paid off,” she said.

“We will celebrate this milestone for our outlet by using the promotional material to share the great news with our community and we will also be spreading the positive energy.

“We like to give them a big congratulations to them, hope that they spend the money well and continue to be a loyal customer to us in the future.”

The winning numbers in Saturday Lotto draw 4645 on 24 January 2026 were 29, 24, 22, 33, 28 and 8, while the supplementary numbers were 27 and 19.

Across Australia, there were five division one winning entries in Saturday Lotto draw 4645 – two in New South Wales and one each in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

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