Not a lot of people can say they’ve won a big lottery jackpot, but after an August Lotto Max draw, 49 people in Quebec can now make that claim — a “landmark first,” Loto-Québec says.
The Crown corporation in Quebec announced on Monday that 49 people won the $55-million jackpot in the Aug. 21 Lotto Max draw.
It’s the first time such a large group has won a million-dollar jackpot in a single lottery win, Loto-Quebéc said. Each individual is receiving $1.1 million.
Poirier was one of three people from the Outaouais who won, alongside 46 others from various regions of Quebec. The group gathered in Montreal at the corporation’s head office on Tuesday.
The 72-year-old won as part of a group of people who did not know each other through Loto-Québec’s online Formule groupe. This allows players to purchase one or more shares in a lottery group and then pool them with those of other group members. Each winner had purchased at least one share of the winning Formule groupe ticket.
Even though it meant playing with multiple other people he didn’t know, Poirier said he didn’t find it a weird prospect.
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“I’m so happy and proud that everybody here, 49 winners,” he said.
Now that he’s won $1.1 million, Poirier said he’s quit the two part-time jobs he worked as a clerk at a store, where he decided to work after retiring in 2014, and plans to golf and will be more regularly attending his gym. He said his wife had already taken her retirement in May.
He also plans to buy a Jeep in cash, a purchase he previously planned to make with credit but can now make outright.
“I’m a simple person, I appreciate life and health and I won’t change at all, not a bit,” he said.
For 43-year-old Naeim Nouzad of Dorval, the $1.1 million is an early birthday gift — he turns 44 on Sept. 18.
“I was really excited and I couldn’t believe it,” he told reporters. “I had an online course and the whole class I was flying, that was a good feeling.”
Retirement is not in his plans, but Nouzad said he hopes to use the money to pay off his house and see how he can help his two sisters. He’s also going to buy a gift for his nephew as his first plan.
He said he normally checks his email when he wakes up Saturdays and sees maybe he won $1 or $2 in the lottery, but saw “too many numbers” without his glasses on. He then went to check the app and saw he won $1.1 million, but when he noticed it was a group that won, he figured he’d get about $22,000.
It was a call to Loto-Québec that confirmed the full $1.1 million was the split amount. He said Tuesday it was a “good feeling” winning alongside so many people.
“When I was entering the building, I was thinking each one has their own dream and you can see on their face that they’re really happy, it was really a good feeling,” he said.
There were 15 winners from Monteregie, 17 from Montreal, two each from the Laurentides and the Capitale-Nationale, five from Lanaudiere, three from the Outaouais, and one each from Abitibi-Temiscamingue, Laval, Cote-Nord, Estrie, Mauricie and Nord-du-Quebec.
“It’s incredible to think that 49 families here in Quebec will enjoy part of this jackpot,” said Isabelle Jean, executive vice-president and COO of Lottery Games at Loto-Québec.
According to Loto-Québec, it’s the first time the corporation has handed out this many cheques worth more than $1 million in a single day.
— with files from Global News’ Dan Spector
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