A Group Of 18 Friends Pulled A $2M Ontario Lottery Win After Playing Together For 15 Years
"I thought something was wrong with my phone."
Scott McConnell, a group member who represented the group in the photo.
Everyone talks about how having friends is essential for emotional reasons. Yet, no one mentions how it also increases your chances of becoming an Ontario lottery winner.
According to OLG, a group of 18 pals from the Greater Toronto Area won a whopping $2,762,848.20 after scoring the "Ontario's jackpot" in the March 12, 2022, Lottario draw.
The names of the winners are as follows:
- Lee Donald of Markham
- Arudchelvan Arampamoorthy of Scarborough
- Carlton Morris of Scarborough
- Dervin Vassell of Oshawa
- Felix Iyoha of Toronto
- Garfield Lowe of North York
- Ibraham Baiyat of Scarborough
- Joseph Pereira of Toronto
- Joseph Rasaiya of Scarborough
- Kanalingam Shanmugam of Scarborough
- Kurtis Charles of Scarborough
- Mitra Bissoon of Scarborough
- Mohammad Damra of Scarborough
- Ndukate Ntete of Oshawa
- Raphael George of Pickering
- Scott McConnell of Oshawa
- Shahram Dehghanpoor of Pickering
- Winston Jennings of Ajax
Lee, the group's leader, revealed at the OLG Prize Centre that they have been playing together for 15 years.
He also opened up about the moment he discovered the monumental win, which, by the sounds of it, was a bit hard to grasp.
"I checked our ticket the day after the draw using the OLG App," he said. "I thought something was wrong with my phone – I was so shocked!"
The loot will be split equally amongst the group's members, with some already making plans for their share.
"Some are investing their portion of the win while others plan to pay bills," he added.
Back in March, a group of 16 nurses won $2 million after taking home an Ontario 49 jackpot.
The health workers had only started buying tickets as a group a month prior to the win.
Better together seems to be a good motto for lotto winners in the province.
If you or someone you know is struggling with problem gambling, refer to these helplines across Canada. Support is available.