ontario lottery

Ontario dad's face turned white with shock after $1 million lotto win

What would your first reaction be if you found out you won the lottery? Would you cry, scream, jump for joy, or possibly have to lie down out of fear of fainting? 

One lucky winner in Ontario was so shocked to find out that he had won the big prize that his face turned "white with shock." 

Frederick Matthews of Cambridge won a LOTTO 64/9 prize worth a staggering $1 million in the Gold Ball Draw on Feb. 22. 

At first, Matthews couldn't believe that his cash prize had multiple zeros attached to it. 

"I scanned my ticket while in my car and thought I won $1,000 at first," he recalled. "When I looked again, I realized there were more zeros." 

Years of bad luck were squashed instantly, as the 56-year-old revealed he's been regularly playing the lottery for 30 years. 

"I looked in my rear-view mirror and my face was white with shock," Matthews said. 

The very first person he contacted was his wife, who, according to Matthews, couldn't believe that he won the lottery. "She said, 'you're kidding, it's a joke,'" he laughed. 

Matthews plans to coordinate a family trip now that he's officially a millionaire. 

"I've worked hard my whole life, now it's time to enjoy," he said. 

The odds of winning the Gold Ball Draw are incredibly tough and dependent on the total number of selections issues across Canada.

If five million plays are issued, there would be a total of five million selections for the draw, meaning the odds of any one selection drawn would be a whopping one in five million. 

Lead photo by

OLG


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software