Just a few hours’ drive away from Cornwall sits a man celebrating new found lottery fortune. The 60-year-old businessman from Quebec won US$1 million on February 27th by playing Powerball, one of the US’s most popular lottery games.
Winning a US lottery without leaving home
The man, who right now is being referred to in the media only as P, matched enough of the winning numbers to take home the US$1 million second prize. The most interesting part of this success story is that P never left Quebec to purchase his tickets. So how did he end up winning a small fortune?
P is one of thousands of Canadians who have started playing global lotteries, especially games from the US, online. He stated during an interview that he started playing through theLotter, an online lottery ticket purchasing site, when the Powerball jackpot reached US$1 billion in January. He purchased tickets for the February 27 draw through the same company and came out a winner.
In true Canadian fashion, P was attending a hockey game with his son while the draw took place down in Florida. He woke up the next morning and found out he won the seven-figure second prize and was in utter shock. The first thing he did was call his son and share the good news. Though he purchased the winning ticket online, P will soon be headed to New Jersey to collect his prize in person.
Cornwall gets lucky too
So how do Cornwall lottery winners stack up to Quebec’s newest millionaire? Over the last several years, multiple lottery winners have come from the Cornwall area, including a $50 million winner.
October 11, 2003 – One of three winning Lotto Super 7 tickets for this draw was sold in Cornwall. The overall jackpot was $30 million, so the Cornwall winner took home a healthy $10 million share. Lotto Super 7 was replaced by Lotto Max in 2009.
December 23, 2005 – A group of 33 people from the Cornwall area formed a lottery syndicate and purchased tickets for a Lotto Super 7 draw in 2005. They didn’t win anything that time around except for a free ticket for a future draw. That free ticket ended up being worth $9.4 million. The syndicate’s leader was Scott Johnston, a plumbing and heating salesman from Martintown. The group members included several of his customers. After a $9.4 million jackpot win, they’re probably all very happy they did business with Johnston.
June 27, 2014 – Rita Cooper, a 78-year-old Brinston resident, purchased a Lotto 6/49 ticket at the CNIB lottery booth in Cornwall. Cooper bought the ticket on her 48th wedding anniversary and it fit the special occasion perfectly. The raffle code on her ticket matched the guaranteed $1 Million Prize Draw, allowing the couple to celebrate their anniversary as millionaires.
September 5, 2014 – Deanna Bergeron has Cornwall roots and lots of luck. The 30-year-old personal trainer grew up in Cornwall but moved to Orillia as an adult. One day she bought an ice cream treat for her fiance Jeff Bourret, but ended up eating it herself. She then went back to the store to replace it and ended up getting millions of dollars as well! Along with the ice cream, she bought two Quick Picks for the Lotto Max draw on September 5th. One of those tickets matched the winning numbers for the $50 million jackpot. That replacement ice cream must have been the sweetest tasting treat of this couple’s life!