N.L. man’s free ticket win results in $5M Lotto 6/49 prize
Michael Brown of Englee is $5 million richer after claiming his Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot prize nearly a month after the Nov. 5 draw. Brown’s big win was the result of a free ticket that he won on a previous draw.
“I had eight or nine tickets to check from over five or six weeks and the last one she checked was a winning ticket,” Brown said, recalling his trip to a lottery retailer. “She said, ‘You won $50,000. Oh, no wait, it’s $5 million, I think,’ and she was a bit shaky and everything.”
The Classic Jackpot is always set at $5 million and the Gold Ball Jackpot starts at $10 million and can grow past $60 million. The Gold Ball Draw guarantees a winning ticket on every draw, with the winner taking home $1 million if a white ball is drawn or the growing Gold Ball Jackpot when a gold ball is drawn. Brown’s ticket matched all six of the Classic Draw numbers for the Nov. 5, 2025 draw, resulting in his $5-
million jackpot win.
As a fisherman who is often away working, Brown went nearly an entire month without realizing he was
a $5-million winner. “I don’t always check my tickets right away, I might have it in my wallet or my pocket for a month because I’m busy, doing work or offshore fishing,” Brown said. “It can often be the next week or the next week after that I get in to check a ticket.”
Plans for his winnings include helping his children and taking some of his friends on the moose hunting trip they’ve been dreaming of for the last several years. Brown intends to keep working and will use some of his prize money to purchase new fishing gear he has needed to upgrade for some time.
“I’ll take it as it comes now, whatever it is,” Brown said. “As long as I can wake up in the morning and
feel good enough to get up and do what I need to do, only happier, I’ll be happier.”
Brown purchased his winning Lotto 6/49 ticket at Michelle’s Convenience in Englee. The retailer will
receive a one per cent seller’s prize.