Five months after the draw, a Newcastle man has finally come forward to claim his $200,000 Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot prize after checking the ticket that had been in his wallet the whole time.
The New South Wales player won the guaranteed 1st Prize of $200,000 in Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot draw 1333, drawn Friday 31 May 2019.
Speaking with A NSW Lotteries official this morning, the man explained why it took him five months to check his winning ticket and claim his prize.
“I bought my ticket months ago and just put it in my wallet and completely forgot about it,” he explained.
“Whenever I was buying something, I would always see it in my wallet and think to check it, but just forget.
“Yesterday I was buying a paper at the newsagency and decided I would finally check it.
“The lady there told me I won, and I just thought ‘holy hell! You’ve got to be joking me’.
“It’s funny because the other month I was watching TV with my wife and they were talking about a Powerball winner who hadn’t claimed their prize and we were just talking about how silly they were to not check their ticket.
“Yet this whole time we’ve been exactly the same! I’ve had a ticket worth $200,000 in my wallet this whole time.
“My wife called me an idiot. She made me check the whole house to see if we had any other tickets that needed to be checked.
“I just never thought I would win anything.”
When asked how he planned to enjoy his prize, the stoked bloke explained it would be put to good use.
“It has come at the perfect time because we’ve been struggling a bit lately,” he shared.
“I am going to buy a new car, pay off some bills and put the rest towards a new home.
“I also think if something good happens to you, you should do something good, so I will give some money to a charity as well.”
The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased his winning entry at Lambton Nextra, 97 Elder Street, Lambton.
Lambton Nextra owner Trish Firth said she was thrilled the winner had finally come forward to claim his prize.
“I am so relived he has come forward to claim his prize. It is just fantastic,” she said.
“Now that he has claimed it, I hope he really enjoys his windfall.
“Hopefully this encourages other players to check their tickets.
“You just never know, you could have a major prize winning ticket around the house and not know it.
“We can’t wait to sell another major prize to our customers.”
The Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot prize is now $7.17 million for draw 1457 while the Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot is now $6.35 million for draw 10330.
For your chance to make today your ‘Lucky’ day, why not get your paws on a Lucky Lotteries ticket at your local NSW Lotteries outlet or online via thelott.com.
NSW Lotteries customers can purchase a single ticket number into the Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot for $2.20 and the Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot for $5.50.
