A $13 Million Lotto 649 Jackpot Took 28 Years For Canadian Winner
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Canadian Duarte Almeida collected a jackpot sum of $13.6 million from the Aug. 2 Lotto 649 draw. Photo: cbc
Duarte Almeida from Victoria, B.C. has played the same numbers for 28 years.
"I am still shaking. I don't believe I win the lottery," he told a crowd gathered at the B.C. Lottery Corporation's Vancouver office on Friday.
"It is very hard. I play all those years and I still think ... I think it's a dream."
The B.C. Lottery Corporation's Vancouver 80,000sq ft office.Almeida said he didn't check his ticket against the winning numbers for almost three weeks after the draw. When he saw the six numbers match, he couldn't believe it.
"[I felt like] I was going to faint. The girl from the lottery ticket says, 'you OK? You want a chair?" he said. He eventually gave her the ticket, and she realized he had won the jackpot.
She called the B.C. Lottery Corporation office to confirm the win, and Almeida then went to tell his wife the good news.
The tickets were bought at Aitken and Fraser Market, Shawnigan Lake.
"I come back to my truck and speak to my wife and she said, 'I don't believe you!'"
The lucky numbers weren't the only part of his strategy. Almeida said he made a habit of buying tickets from out-of-the way places and smaller towns on Vancouver Island. In the end, Almeida bought his winning ticket at the Aitken and Fraser Market in Shawnigan Lake.
He said he would continue to play the lottery and had even bought some tickets on his way to pick up his cheque.
The only big-money decision he has made so far is to buy a new truck and that he'd be leaving his old truck in the BCLC parking lot for the time being.
"I fly to Victoria," he said. He said he'd already called a tow company to pick up his old truck.
