A Laois man had his family to thank for his good Lotto fortune after he claimed a prize worth €263,058, over two months after the draw in November.
The Laois Lotto winner matched five numbers and the bonus in the Saturday night draw after purchasing their winning Quick Pick ticket on the day of the draw at the Maxol service station on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise.
The relieved Laois man told how he would have missed out on his prize entirely had it not been for one of his family members spotting a post about the unclaimed Lotto prize on social media.
He said: “I buy Lotto tickets every week but I have a very peculiar and probably a very bad habit… I never ever check them if I hear there is no winner of the jackpot and also if the jackpot was won elsewhere in the country.
“Luckily, I didn’t throw out the ticket because that would have been a very expensive mistake.
“Last Monday night, the family frantically searched the house for old tickets, scanning old and expired tickets on their phone but eventually one of the tickets scanned and made an extra loud noise letting us know it was a winner – we knew we had it then, it was incredible.
“I’ve definitely learned my lesson and my advice to any other Lotto player in the country is to check their tickets regardless of the results – because you just never know.
“We’re going to have a great family celebration over the coming days.
“I’m looking forward to putting a plan together to share the entire prize out among the entire family – it’s the least I could do because I’d have missed out otherwise if it weren’t for them.”
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