A group of coworkers in Surrey collected $500,000 after matching four extra numbers on a Lotto 6/49 and BC/49 ticket.
“I saw a whole pile of zeros and I didn’t think it was right,” Russell Martin said, who purchased the ticket on behalf of his coworkers. “The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I quickly did the math and realized how much we each won.”
According to a British Columbia Lottery Corporation news release, Martin purchased a ticket for his group from Town Pantry on 64 Avenue on March 6 and checked his ticket at a self-checker at 7-Eleven.
Martin and his co-workers have been purchasing tickets as a group for seven years.
“This win means something to each of us and will change our lives in different ways,” he said in the release. “We are all excited and everyone has different plans for the money. Each one of us will be helping out our family.”
The release did not specify how many people are in Martin’s group.
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“No one believed me and everyone thought I was joking with them,” Martin said of his coworkers reaction to the news.
Last year, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $32 million in prizes.
“Lottery players who are part of a group should always appoint someone to coordinate collecting participant’s money, buying the group’s tickets, tracking group winnings and posting results,” the release said. “When purchasing as a group, it’s always a good idea to have a record of which group members have contributed to the ticket purchases.”
