$60,000,000 - Several colleagues split the Lotto Max grand prize

MONTRÉAL, Dec. 27, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - $60,000,000: That's the mind boggling sum won by nine Montréal colleagues at the December 22 Lotto Max draw! This marks the third time in 2017 that the maximum possible Lotto Max grand prize amount is won in Québec!

Suffice to say this is an event worth celebrating! The lucky winners celebrated the historic jackpot this afternoon at the Delta Montréal hotel, where they received their cheques during a meeting with the press.

Nine winning colleagues! (CNW Group/Loto-Québec)

Nine winning colleagues and Lynne Roiter, President and CEO of Loto-Québec (CNW Group/Loto-Québec)

The winners, all colleagues who work in finance in Downtown Montréal, played using Formule groupe and split the prize into 9 equal shares, as follows:

-	Julie Béland	-	Darius Hozhabr Zandi
-	Haidar Abi Haidar	-	Peter Jewett
-	Robert Macri	-	Randolph Dandan
-	Diane Dorele Fossouo Djuidje	-	Enzo Scattone
-	Nathaniel Thomas

Summary

• Lottery: Lotto Max
• Prize won: $60,000,000
• Category: Grand Prize
• Odds of winning the grand prize: 1 in 28,633,528 with one play
• Draw date: December 22, 2017
• Winners' place of residence: Montréal
• Retailer: Provigo Le Marché, 1275 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal, Montréal
• The retailer will receive $600,000, the equivalent of 1% of the prize.
• Claim centre: Loto‑Québec headquarters in Montréal

Winners' reactions

• On the morning of December 23, Julie Béland saw that she had 13 missed calls on her cell phone. All the calls were from co-workers. She immediately though the worst: "Something bad must have happened to someone!"
• She never would have guessed that it could be good news concerning the Lotto Max draw, despite the fact that she had heard the grand prize had been won by a group of 9 Montreal residents. When she called one of her colleagues who said "It's us!", she replied "It's us what?" before realizing that they had just won $60 million!
• This group of co‑workers began nearly 2 years ago. They only bet small amounts per draw at Lotto 6/49 or Lotto Max. "We would get all giddy when we won $10. Imagine now!" confided Julie Béland.
• It was at Haidar's off‑the‑cuff suggestion that the idea of forming a special group arose. "For the $60 million, let's bet $10 each! And why not double our wager and go for $20 each?"

Quote

• We are thrilled for our winners. This big win is the perfect way to end 2017, an exceptional year in which three 60-million-dollar prizes were won in Québec, a record number of 104 prizes of $1,000,000 or more were also won in Québec for a total of 131 new millionaires, said Lynne Roiter, President and CEO of Loto-Québec.

Lotto Max is generous with Quebecers

• Several Quebecers have been very lucky with Lotto Max. Since the lottery's launch, 22 grand prizes were won in Québec including, 3 prizes of $60,000,000 won at the draws of January 6, February 10 and December 22, 2017. These are the three biggest prizes ever won in Québec. What's more, 3 prizes of $55,000,000 were won on June 2, 2017, April 21, 2017 and July 17, 2015. Three other prizes of $50,000,000 were won at the draws of May 6, 2016, May 31, 2013, and July 6, 2012. The 22 prizes total more than 783 million dollars!

• In addition to these prizes, several prizes of $1,000,000 were won throughout the province: 88 Maxmillions and 4 prizes in the category 6/7+C, as well as 64 shares of Maxmillions prizes. All told, Quebecers have cashed in on nearly 1.7 billion dollars at Lotto Max!

About Loto‑Québec
Loto-Québec's mission is to responsibly and efficiently manage games of chance in a controlled and measured fashion, in the interest of all Quebecers. Entertainment is at the heart of its activities. From January 1 to December 27, 2017, Loto-Québec paid out 104 prizes worth $1 million or more and created 131 millionaires. Gagnant à vie! and Grande Vie lotteries have provided 29 lucky winners with a lifetime annuity.

Lotteries site: loteries.lotoquebec.com
twitter.com/LotoQcLoteries Hashtag: #lotoquebec
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@loto-quebec

SOURCE Loto-Québec

Source : Patrice Lavoie, Corporate Director of Public Affairs, Press Relations and Social Media, Loto-Québec, 514-499-5130, [email protected], twitter.com/patricelavoie; Information : Renaud Dugas, Senior Advisor - Public Affairs, Press Relations and Social Media, Loto-Québec, 514-499-5208, [email protected]