In a span of nearly five months, a Peterborough man claimed more than $300,000 combined in two separate lottery draws, the OLG reported Wednesday.
According to the OLG, Konstantinos (Kosta) Bouzinelos on June 3 won the Poker Lotto All In jackpot worth $154,053.50 and an additional $5,000 on the instant portion of the ticket.
Then on Oct. 28, he again won the Poker Lotto All In jackport worth $144,473.20 and another $5,000 on the instant portion of the ticket.
Combined, the windfall is $307,528.70. Each poker hand in the draw costs $2 plus $1 per hand to add the “All In” instant portion.
“Honestly, the first time I won I was so shocked I couldn’t even speak,” he said at the OLG prize centre in Toronto. “I was so excited I couldn’t find the words to give my personal information to the OLG representative on the phone.”
The 62-year-old entrepreneur said he was shocked even more so on his second win.
“I saw the terminal freeze and said, ‘Not again?'” he recalled.
He said his wife didn’t believe the first win when he called her from the store.
“When I phoned her the second time, she really didn’t believe me,” he said.
He intends to use his winnings for retirement and to give back to the community.
“I still can’t believe it happened – I’m not sure I ever will,” he said.
Both of Bouzinelos’s winning tickets were purchased at Mister Convenience on Monaghan Road in Peterborough.
The OLG says when Bouzinelos won his second jackpot, James Dufresne, also of Peterborough, was waiting in line behind him at the store. Dufresne was paying for gas before driving to the OLG prize centre to collect a top prize of $100,000 he had recently won on an Instant lottery ticket. The two chatted briefly about their good fortune before parting ways.
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