An Australian man scored a 46.6 million Australian dollar ($33.15 million) lottery windfall — after buying two tickets with the same numbers.
The blue-collar worker from Melbourne, whose name has not been disclosed, had been playing those numbers for 30 years, according to an Oz Lotto statement.
He discovered his double win Tuesday, after finishing work for the night. “Am I seeing things?” he said on receiving the news, according to the statement. “I can’t believe it.”
He shares the 70 million Australian dollar ($49.7 million) jackpot with one other unregistered player from Tasmania, where Lotto officials are imploring players in the city of Hobart to check their tickets.
But another Australian lottery player this month was not so lucky.
The man, referred to in court documents as Mr G, claimed that in October 2017 he’d entered the United States Mega Millions lottery with the winning numbers before the cut-off time, entitling him to a share of the $50 million jackpot.
Due to a time zone conversion error on the website, however, the man had placed his bet after the winning numbers had been drawn.
An Australian court last Thursday ruled that Mr G was not entitled to any of his potential millions, as the terms and conditions state that entries will not be accepted after the draw “irrespective of a wrong deadline displayed on the website.”
His ticket was transferred to the next day — and did not win.
