Toronto Greek-Canadian Gregory Chialtas won $70 million in the lottery by choosing numbers corresponding to family birthdays.
Chialtas, who has recently retired from civil service, could not hide his surprise and his joy that he was the lucky winner of the Lotto Max draw, according to the Toronto Sun.
The super lucky Greek man said he bought the ticket while out shopping and chose numbers important to his children, siblings, and other family members. As he stated, at first he thought he had found only three numbers, however, something told him he should check the ticket again.
“That’s when I realized I was looking at the numbers from the wrong draw date,” Chialtas said. “So I went back to find the results from the Lotto Max draw on April 19th and that’s when I saw that I got all seven numbers. I was totally shocked!”
The first thing he did was call his wider family and spread the news. “We’re a very close-knit family,” Chialtas told the Toronto Sun. “It’s a bit of a cliché, just like that movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. That’s why I called them first with this incredible news.”
Speaking of his plan on how to use the money he won, the Greek-Canadian father of three Plans for the money he earned include travel, making sure his kids finish their education, possibly new cars and houses for his family, and giving back to the community.
Greek-Canadian couple wins lottery
In November 2021, a Greek-Canadian couple won $500,000, saying at the time that they would use part of their winnings to give a Christmas bonus to their staff at their restaurant and travel to Greece.
Emmanuel and Stavroula Savvaidis won after playing the Extra from the Lotto Max draw.
“I couldn’t read what I had won because I was so excited,” Emmanouel said, according to local news site Mypowellrivernow. “I was shaking and filled with excitement,” Stavroula said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
The couple reside at Powell River, a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia.
The Greek-Canadian couple said they would use the prize money to take a trip to Greece to visit their family there.
Since they own a restaurant, they planned to use part of their winnings to give their staff an early Christmas bonus. They also planned to share some of the money with their immediate family, which includes their son and daughter. They were the first people the Savvaidis called after realizing they had won and said their children were “very happy” for them.