I won the lottery!

The lottery is Canada’s biggest retirement program. The odds are 14 million to 1 you’ll hit the jackpot and be able to retire. The big difference between Canada and the US is that gambling winnings are not taxable in Canada. Since most of us can’t really afford to retire, the lottery is the golden goose.

The truth is, I seldom if ever play the lottery, but once in a while, when the fever gets high in the culture, I go for it. Often, I gather an army of coworkers and pitch in for a huge number of tickets. The truth of it is, I never win.

I was sitting home, waiting for my family to come back from New York on Saturday, when the six o’clock news told me of a lottery fever, the lottery machines were burning up the airwaves, as 42 million dollars was up for grabs. I couldn’t hold myself together, I told Max, my dog, that I’d be right back and I took myself to the local gas station to purchase five lottery tickets and an Encore (I have no idea what an Encore is, nor do most people, but I buy one anyway) and I paid $11 for the privilege.

The next day I went on the computer to look at the winning numbers. My heart races if I even hit a single number, but clearly I was doing better than that.

First prize ended up at $20,664,574 (all 6 numbers) and there were two of them. Second prize ended up at $203,962.30 (5 numbers and a Bonus) and there were 13 of them. Third prize ended up at $6,018.80 (5 numbers) and there were 413 of them. Fourth prize ended up at $223.10 (4 numbers) and there were 21,540 of them. Fifth prize ended up at $10 and there were 401,382 of them including me! There was also a $5 prize for two numbers and a bonus, and there were 276,074 of them.

I spent $11 to win $10, is this a sign? Based on this track record I will need $1000 a week to retire and I can do this if I save $1100 a week or some such mathematical equation.

However, this is my first big win! I can say without compromise, I won the lottery!