A man has finally claimed a $1.6 million Gold Lotto win after weeks of disbelief.
The Gympie man held one of the three division one-winning entries in Saturday Gold Lotto draw 4563, which was drawn on April 12.
The winning entry wasn’t registered to The Lott Members Club, which meant officials had to wait for the ticketholder to check their ticket and come forward to collect the $1,607,641.94 prizemoney.
“It’s pretty surreal,” the man said when an official confirmed his windfall.
“It’s taken a lot to sink in.
“My mum and two uncles were big Golden Casket fans. I don’t think they did very well in terms of winnings but they would be very happy to hear that I’ve taken home division one myself.
“I went to the local newsagency to check my ticket and the young girls behind the counter said they couldn’t pay out the prize. That’s when I knew it was big.
“I just had to sit and ponder the win for a month. I couldn’t believe it.
“I’ve also kept the win on the downlow. I haven’t told anyone about the win. I don’t think I will.”
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He said a new set of wheels was top priority.
“I need a new car. I will keep the one I have and fix it up but it’s time to upgrade it,” he said.
The winning entry was purchased at Nextra Gympie, Shop Sp038 Gympie Central, on the corner of the Bruce Hwy and Excelsior Road at Gympie.
Nextra Gympie owner Kelly Goatham was delighted to hear the man had come forward to claim his prize.
“There were certainly a few expletives when we found out we sold a division one winning entry,” she said.
“My co-owner Justene thought there was a snake in the house by the way I had yelled out to her.”
The winning numbers were 45, 3, 22, 17, 13 and 6, while the supplementary numbers were 29 and 31.
