Toronto man wins $20M with lottery numbers used for 36 years
A Toronto man has won $20 million in the Lotto 649 jackpot using the same numbers he played for more than three decades.
Scarborough resident Stephen Dixon said he's been playing the same set of lottery numbers for 36 years.
"I started playing these numbers with Wintario and migrated them over to Lotto 6/49. The numbers I play are significant family dates," he said in an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) release issued Thursday.
When Dixon told his wife he’d won the top prize, she originally thought it was worth $20,000. When he informed her it was for $20-million, he said she didn’t believe him.
“She was convinced I was playing a prank on her,” he said.
Dixon says he found out he'd won after his son reminding him to check his ticket, which was purchased at Sunstar Convenience on Ellesmere Road in Scarborough.
"I was at the store running errands, when I stopped to check my ticket,” he said.
“When I saw the ‘Big Winner’ screen, I assumed the $20 million that appeared was an advertisement for the next draw. Then the store clerk checked the ticket for me and said, 'Oh my God, you’ve won the big one!' and she started dancing and cheering!"
Dixon said customers of the store soon came to congratulate him.
“It was nerve-wracking – I was in a daze. I got into my car and realized how shocked I was. Too shocked to celebrate like they do in commercials.”
According to the OLG, Lotto 6/49 players in Ontario have won over $13.7 billion in prizes since 1982.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.