LAKELAND - Lakeland residents from Plamondon to Vermilion were part of a lottery promotion event on Thursday, that saw half a dozen Albertans playing big games for a share of big money - $2.7 million.
The big draw was hosted by Alberta Liquor Gaming & Cannabis (AGLC) and the Western Canadian Lottery Corporation (WCLC) at the Century Casino in Edmonton on May 2.
Denis Bourassa from Plamondon made the trip — selected for the big draw after he scratched a winning five dollar Plinko lottery ticket he purchased from the TAGS Esso convenience store in Lac La Biche last December. The scratch ticket gave Bourassa an instant $10,000 prize — and a chance to drop a chip on the Plinko game board for a guaranteed prize between $100,000 and half a million dollars. Bourassa won $300,000.
He has a couple of ideas for his $300,000 windfall.
“I’m probably going to share this with my family,” he said at his PLINKO drop. “I’ll have to figure out how I'm splitting it all up!”
Joining Bourassa in the winners' circle was Lac La Biche's Dennis Sigbert Boucher who won $125,000 from his five dollar Big Spin lottery ticket purchased at Eddies Mart in Lac La Biche in January.
Boucher said he was thrilled to discover the ticket he bought had initially won $10,000. He said the added bonus of getting to turn the Big Spin prize wheel was beyond fantastic.
“I hollered when I saw the win,” he said. “I’ve been playing this game for a long while, and my wife and I couldn’t believe our eyes.”
The Lac La Biche winner said he is really looking forward to purchasing a new vehicle with his windfall.
Vermilion resident John Russell Kelly won $400,000 when he took the Big Spin, and David Goruk of Smoky Lake won $100,000. Both winners had already scratched $10,000 prizes on their five-dollar Big Spin lottery tickets.
Million dollar win
From Central Alberta, Jason MacEachern of Eckville and Tom Jones of Foothills had also already won $10,000 each on their Bigger Spin scratch tickets. In their turns on the Bigger Spin wheel, MacEachern won $800,000 and Jones came away with the million dollar top prize.
Jones bought his winning ticket in January at the Co-Op in Barrhead. A portion of his winnings will be going to helping his family and rebuilding his dream car: a 1971 Chevelle.
“It hasn’t really hit me yet, but I am very excited,” he admitted. “It’ll be amazing to help out my family with this.”
