Townsville man bursts into tears after $1.6m lotto win
After 25 years playing the same lotto numbers, a Townsville family has won over a million dollars, helping them exit the rental market.
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A quarter century of dedication to the same lotto numbers has finally paid off for a Townsville man, who will step off the rental rollercoaster after becoming a millionaire over the weekend.
With a grand prize of almost $5m up for grabs for last Saturday’s Gold Lotto draw 4463, the North Queenslander was one of three entrants to pocket a $1,648,240.31 share of the Division 1 prize.
The Townsville man said he burst into tears of joy on Sunday morning after checking his Saturday Gold Lotto ticket and realising he’d won.
“I’ve played these numbers for about 25 years. I knew they’d come up one day,” he said.
“I’ll tell you the truth though, I did start doubting these numbers and I was thinking about four weeks ago whether to redo different numbers.
“Normally, I take the ticket to bed with me and look at the clock around 8.30pm and check it. But last night I left the ticket in the lounge room.”
He initially thought he’d won $1600.
“Then I thought, ‘hang on, there’s more numbers there’. Then my brain said ‘$16,000’, but no, there were still more numbers,” he said.
“My brain just couldn’t think. I just burst into tears and woke my wife up to tell her.”
The local resident said the money would help them secure permanent housing and a well-earned holiday.
“We’ve been renting for decades, and we’d love to buy our own house,” he said.
“We also want to pay off the daughter’s house, and with the rest perhaps we’ll go on a holiday and travel.
“We can do whatever we want. We’ve already started planning.”
The man’s 12-game entry was purchased from Nextra Willows Express, at the Willows Shopping Centre.
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Originally published as Townsville man bursts into tears after $1.6m lotto win
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