A BC Lotto Winner's Husband Didn't Believe Her At First When She Won Big

A Lotto winner in B.C. didn't expect to score the jackpot when she played a holiday-themed casino game on PlayNow.com — and she couldn't believe it when she received the call that she'd won.

Shannon Stuart, a resident of Mackenzie, B.C., won a grand total of $364,969.90 and "kept asking the BCLC employee if it was real."

"They had to repeat the amount three or four times,” Stuart said.

Not even her husband believed it. "He made me find another number online for BCLC and I called back to confirm," she continued.

Once she confirmed that her win was legit, the celebrations began. Stuart plans to take some time off work and just hang out with her loved ones. A family party in the Shuswap is already being organized as is the winner's dream vacation.

"I am going to take my twin sister on a trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand," she said. "We’re going to go backpacking, so it will be a lot of fun!”

Who'd have thought a Christmas casino game would have churned up such a whopping jackpot?

According to BCLC, the game called "Winning Tree" started with "a progressive jackpot of $10,000 and kept growing with a portion of every wager contributing to the final jackpot that Stuart won. Players earned one entry for the jackpot-prize draw for every ten cents wagered (up to a maximum of ten entries per day)."

Looks like those ten cents really added up.

“This win means a lot to me,” said Stuart. "It really feels like a windfall right now.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with problem gambling, refer to these helplines across Canada. Support is available.