Red Deerians are still dreaming about cashing in a $70-million Lotto Max ticket.
No winning ticket was sold for Friday night’s draw, the largest Lotto Max jackpot ever, so the money is up for grabs again on Tuesday, along with 25 prizes of $1 million each.
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Janice Hansen, of Red Deer, said she bought a Lotto Max ticket last week and will probably buy another one for Tuesday’s draw.
“I don’t set any expectation that I’m going to win. I’m happy if I get a free play. That way, it’s always good. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,” Hansen said.
Roland Pell, of Red Deer, said he regularly buys tickets Tuesday and Friday, but never wins anything except maybe a free ticket on Lotto Max.
“The way I look at it, if you don’t buy, you can’t win,” Pell said.
If he won Lotto Max, he said he would split his winnings with his wife and three sons, and donate money to local charities such as the Red Deer Food Bank or Red Deer Christmas Bureau.
Pell said he would also “play with it.”
Jim Lainchbury, of Red Deer, said he was one of the dreamers who bought a Lotto Max last week.
“I bought one last week because you don’t win without one,” Lainchbury said.
“Some people play the same numbers. They’re superstitious. I just do the quick pick. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen.”
But he said he won’t buy another ticket for Tuesday’s draw because the odds of winning are just too small.
“If everyone in Red Deer bought one ticket, it’s one in 100,000. I’ve been in a room with 12 people and lost,” said Lainchbury, who instead bought a 649 ticket.
He said a $70 million prize is really too much money for most people, and winners throw their money away on purchases like a jet.
“They should also publish how many divorces there are after you win the big one. How many lives does it actually ruin? I don’t know if people can handle that.”
A co-owner of Shefield & Sons Tobacconists at Parkland Mall said for most of Friday, there was a lineup of Lotto Max buyers that included regular patrons as well as new faces.
He expects another busy day of selling Lotto Max tickets on Tuesday.
“When it’s a big jackpot, it’s a big jackpot,” said Wayne, who didn’t want is last name used, early Monday afternoon as people purchased tickets for the big draw.
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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