REGINA — When Yorkton resident Ernie Anuik headed out for a regular trip to the store to check his lottery tickets, he did not expect to see the celebratory message on the kiosk that he received.
Anuik is the most recent Lotto Max jackpot winner, collecting a prize of a whopping $20 million from the Feb. 15 draw.
Sask Lotteries had advised that this jackpot’s winning ticket had been purchased somewhere in the province outside of Saskatoon or Regina, but Anuik said he didn’t presume that ticket may be his.
“I have always been an optimistic individual, but that doesn’t mean I was waiting for this type of thing,” said Anuik.
Anuik, a now retired public servant, said that he scanned his winning ticket three times at the self-check kiosk in the local Shoppers Drug Mart, where he also purchased the ticket, not processing how much it was telling him he’d won.
“It was kind of a surreal moment,” said Anuik. “It said, ‘it appears you have won,’ and then a two and then lots of zeros.”
He then called over his son, Jason, to check the ticket as well before heading to the store clerk to validate the win. Anuik said he still hasn’t quite wrapped his head around exactly how much money he's won, but that the moment was — and remains — very exciting.
"I only phoned my four sons [afterwards] and I think they thought I was pulling their leg, trying to get a rise out of them, but eventually it sunk in," said Anuik.
As a fundraising entity, Sask Lotteries supports approximately 12,000 sports, culture and recreation programs across the province. Anuik said he’s been an avid lottery ticket purchaser for decades, and that he remembers his sons using some of the sport programs supported by Sask Lotteries when they were kids.
“Over the years, I’ve bought lots of tickets because Sask Lotteries supports our kids,” said Anuik. “[My sons] were in various sports, such as swimming and kayaking, and I always looked at it as giving back.”
He has previously won on lottery tickets before, including a win with coworkers in Moose Jaw that lauded him $80 and $6,800 on a Western Max ticket in 2011 — but nothing quite like his jackpot today.
Anuik said he has no concrete plans for his winnings as of yet, but that he’s talking to a financial planner to decide things for the future.
“I think if it had happened 20 years ago or whatever, it would have been a totally different story,” laughed Anuik.
Saskatchewan has been home to several big lottery winners in the past several months, including a $55 million win in Saskatoon in October and another $50 million win in Saskatoon in January.
But the amount that Anuik has won is certainly top of the pack, falling in as the sixth largest amount won by a Saskatchewan resident via lottery.
Sask Lotteries said that the odds of winning this jackpot were one in 33 million, after it was held over three times waiting for a winning ticket.
Vice chair of lotteries Michael Rogers said that although Saskatchewan may appear to be on a hot streak, winning the lottery remains the same game of chance as it has always been.
He said that although it seems residents are buying more lottery tickets in the past year, that influx won’t change the odds of each jackpot.
“The odds are the same, whatever they may be with each new draw,” said Rogers. “But we’ll enjoy it, as we proceed as a province, and go from there.”
