$70M Calgary lottery winner originally thought he won $70K

A Calgary man has made history by becoming the first Albertan to win $70 million on the Lotto Max lottery.

Mitchel Dyck was the sole winner of the Oct. 21 Lotto Max draw, having matched all seven winning numbers.

Dyck said he doesn’t typically play the lottery, but said yes when a cashier asked if he wanted to play. He discovered his windfall on Nov. 7, when he asked a cashier at a local store to check his ticket.

Dyck was ecstatic when he saw his ticket was a winner — even though at the time, he didn’t even realize how much he won.

“I handed it to the cashier who scanned it; I thought we won $70,000!” Dyck said. “We tried to count the zeroes, but the numbers flew by quickly.

“I already had goosebumps.”

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When he realized his ticket was worth $70 million, he said the moment was surreal.

“Then we started counting and realized it’s $70 million. I thought, ‘Is that even a thing?'” Dyck said. “It was just something you never expect.”

0:32 $70M Lotto Max jackpot finally claimed after weeks

Dyck said the moments to follow were a blur. He went with the cashier to the back room where the ticket was verified through the prize office. He kept the ticket overnight and the next day, immediately got a safety deposit box for it.

The Calgary man said he and his family are going to be smart with the money.

“We found a private banker who will help us manage this,” he said. “For right now it’s just going in the bank until we can make some more plans.”

Dyck’s winning ticket came after a record 21-draw rollover from mid-August to late October. This is the second time a $70-million jackpot has been won by a ticket sold in Alberta.

The last ticket sold in the province was in Dunmore, Alta. The winner of that jackpot lives in Regina. He and his family were on a ski trip to B.C. when they picked up a ticket along the way.

There have been a total of 13 $70-million Lotto Max winners across Canada.