For the past three decades, Gary Gunther has made a habit of buying the B.C. Lottery Corporation Mega Pack and now he and his wife, Marion, are glad he did.
Early morning Thursday, the Prince George couple discovered they were $1 million richer when Marion used an app on her phone to scan the winning ticket not once, but twice to make sure she was seeing what she was believing.
"I turned my phone off and turned it back on again and went into the bedroom and wanted to try and scan it there but it was too dark," Marion said over the phone from BCLC headquarters in Kamloops. "So I asked Gary to get up and we went out to our kitchen again and it was a million dollars."
From there, they phoned BCLC and received further verification.
"I started to cry tears of joy," Marion said.
Even as they were at the BCLC headquarters on Monday to collect their big win, they were still in a state of disbelief.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Gary. "It's overwhelming," said Marion.
The $20 Mega Pack buys the purchaser two plays of Lotto Max, plus one play of Lotto Max Extra and two plays of Lotto 6/49, plus one play of Lotto 6/49 Extra and two plays of BC/49.
The winner was from the "guaranteed million" portion of the 6/49 ticket. Gary had purchased the Mega Pack from the lottery kiosk at the Hart Save On grocery store.
Twice a week for the past 30 years or so, he has been buying the Mega Pack.
"I don't gamble, I don't smoke and I don't go out to the bars. It's my one little vice," Gary said. "It's been $40 a week."
Both in their early-60s and with their children grown up and out of the house, they will be using the money to "speed our retirement up."
Marion, an office manager, has given six weeks notice and Gary, a truck driver, will keep working for a little while longer. From there, they plan to hit the road.
"The one purchase we're going to buy is a pickup for our camper and then, when we can afford it, we travel," Garry said.
The odds of winning the "guaranteed million" depends on the number of tickets purchased.
