Lotto Max Winner In Alberta Thought The Machine Was Broken At First & Strangers Cheered

A Lotto Max winner in Alberta told the entire store that he won $1 million in the October 7 Lotto Max draw, and everyone started cheering for him.

Right before that though, he actually thought the machine at the store was broken. Luckily, it wasn't, and Gary Espartero of Edmonton, was suddenly a millionaire.

Espartero was at his home when he checked his tickets, which he bought just a few hours before the draw from the Westgate Rexall at 9540 163 St. NW in Edmonton. He saw that he didn't win the Lotto Max jackpot, but headed to a store to check if he won a different prize.

Lucky that he did, because when he scanned the ticket he saw a lot of zeros!

"I was expecting something low, like a free play, but then all of a sudden there were a lot of numbers on the screen," he said.

"I thought the machine was broken," he added.

He was so convinced that it was broken that he brought the winning ticket to the cashier to check. Espartero said that the cashier confirmed the big win and he threw his hands in the air.

"I shouted, and everyone at the store was cheering for me," he said.

While everyone in the store was celebrating with him, he wanted to tell his family too.

He called both of his daughters and told one it was an emergency, to get her to come home. One of his daughters said that she "couldn't believe it" and started crying when she found out.

The family plans to use the money to help with school, pay off the mortgage, and maybe take a trip to the Phillippines.