GOLD COAST SNAGS $57M IN MAJOR LOTTO PRIZE WINDFALLS
GOLD Coasters have raked in more than $1 million a week in major lotto prizes this year.
A $57 million windfall put it second behind Brisbane ($70 million) for the biggest lotto wins in the state in the past 12 months.
The Gold Coast snared 19 division one and first-prize hauls across all draws from February to August.
However, it is well down on the $71 million won by 16 Gold Coast winners last year.
The biggest prize in 2019 went to a Sunshine Coast man in June who claimed $40 million from a ticket bought at newsXpress in Robina Town Centre.
Robina and Coolangatta have been the city’s luckiest suburbs this year, each netting two big wins.
The Lott spokeswoman Lauren Cooney said one of the most memorable phone calls she made to a winner was to a young Broadbeach mum who won $3 million just after Mother’s Day.
“She was shopping when she discovered her multi-million-dollar win and was standing in Kmart when I confirmed the news,” Ms Cooney said. “The first thing she said was she doesn’t have to keep shopping at Kmart.”
Gold Coasters still chasing instant fortune have a $30 million Gold Lotto megadraw on Saturday to add their name to 2019’s list.
Meanwhile, Arundel’s Louise Pickup has a good problem – figuring out what to do with a $50,000 gold bullion prize she won in a recent Halcyon ‘Do it your way’ draw by the over-50s lifestyle community operator.
The draw was only open to baby boomers over 50 giving Ms Pickup a one in 2000 chance of winning.