A Queensland man has finally come forward to claim his $1.3 million in lotto winnings more than a month after the draw was announced – simply because he just didn’t believe he had won.
The hunt for the Gold Lotto draw winner came to a successful end on Thursday, with the man from Gympie, near the Sunshine Coast, calling the win “surreal.”
He held one of the three division one winning entries nationally in Saturday Gold Lotto draw 4563, on April 12 – winning a sizeable USD $1,030,668.54.
As the winning entry wasn’t registered, officials had to wait for the ticker holder to check their ticket and come forward in person.
“I went to the local newsagency to check my ticket and the young girls behind the counter said they couldn’t pay out the prize,” the man said.
“That’s when I knew it was big.”
“I just had to sit and ponder the win for a month. I couldn’t believe it.”
The man said he hasn’t told anyone about the win, and plans to keep it “on the downlow”.
“It’s pretty surreal,” he said when an official from The Lott confirmed his windfall.
“It’s taken a lot to sink in.”
“My mom and two uncles were big Golden Casket fans. I don’t think they did very well in terms of winnings, but they would be very happy to hear that I’ve taken home division one myself.”
He plans to buy himself a new car with the winnings.
The winning entry was purchased at Nextra Gympie at Central Shopping Center, with owner Kelly Goatham adding there were a “few expletives” when the big news broke.
“My co-owner Justene thought there was a snake in the house by the way I had yelled out to her,” she said.
“The proof is in the pudding that we can, in fact, sell a division one winning entry.”
“This is the first time Justene and I have sold a division one winning entry since we took over.”
“We came in early to get our store decorated with balloons and posters, and we’ve been sharing the exciting news with all of our customers.”
The winning numbers in Saturday Gold Lotto draw 4563 on 12 April, 2025 were 45, 3, 22, 17, 13 and 6, while the supplementary numbers were 29 and 31.
In the same draw, two ticket holders in Western Australia and another in Queensland were also division one entry winners.
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