Toronto man wins $20M with lottery numbers used for 36 years

A Toronto man has won $20 million in the Lotto 649 jackpot using the same numbers he played for more than three decades.

Scarborough resident Stephen Dixon said he’s been playing the same set of lottery numbers for 36 years.

“I started playing these numbers with Wintario and migrated them over to Lotto 6/49. The numbers I play are significant family dates,” he said in an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) release issued Thursday.

When Dixon told his wife he’d won the top prize, she originally thought it was worth $20,000. When he informed her it was for $20-million, he said she didn’t believe him.

“She was convinced I was playing a prank on her,” he said.

Dixon says he found out he’d won after his son reminding him to check his ticket, which was purchased at Sunstar Convenience on Ellesmere Road in Scarborough.

“I was at the store running errands, when I stopped to check my ticket,” he said.

“When I saw the ‘Big Winner’ screen, I assumed the $20 million that appeared was an advertisement for the next draw. Then the store clerk checked the ticket for me and said, ‘Oh my God, you’ve won the big one!’ and she started dancing and cheering!”

Dixon said customers of the store soon came to congratulate him.

“It was nerve-wracking – I was in a daze. I got into my car and realized how shocked I was. Too shocked to celebrate like they do in commercials.”

According to the OLG, Lotto 6/49 players in Ontario have won over $13.7 billion in prizes since 1982.