Press release

Montréal, January 31, 2025 — Sacha Dorceus, from Montréal, and Richard Thibert, from Laval, don’t know each other. Still, they have one thing in common: in January, they both discovered they’d won hefty sums with lottery tickets purchased several months ago!

A $100,000 prize hidden in his coat

Sacha Dorceus will have the weather to thank for his stroke of luck. A cold snap made him take out a winter coat from his wardrobe. In one of its pockets, he found an Extra ticket he’d bought 10 months ago, and it turned out to be a winning ticket worth $100,000! He only had two months left to claim his prize. The winning ticket had been purchased at the 7 jours convenience store on 4e Rue, in Montréal, on March 6, 2024—the very day of the draw.

A $171,328 prize lying near the door

Richard Thibert was unaware that he held a winning Lotto 6/49 ticket worth $171,328 since June 19. The ticket had been sitting in a box near the front door of his house for over six months. He remembered he had to check it just before going abroad on vacation. Thibert plans to spoil his family with this surprise windfall.

A ticket found in the garage

This month, Laurentides resident Sandra Turrin also found a lottery ticket she’d purchased long ago while cleaning out her garage. The Lotto Max ticket for the August 13 draw won her half a million dollars!

About claiming draw-based lottery prizes

Loto-Québec is calling on all Québec players to check their lottery tickets. For draw-based lottery games, the prize claim deadline is one year from the draw date shown on the tickets. Customers can check their tickets easily at retailers, on lotoquebec.com and via the Loto-Québec Lotteries app. See the list of unclaimed prizes of $100,000 or more.

About Loto-Québec

Loto-Québec has been delivering entertainment to Quebecers for over 50 years, and its operations benefit Québec as a whole. In 2024, the corporation paid out $1.7 billion in prizes to winners across Québec. Major prize winners are listed on the Winners page in the Lotteries section of lotoquebec.com. Read their stories.

The responsible commercialization of lottery and gaming products is central to Loto-Québec’s operations. The corporation has been granted the highest internationally recognized certification in responsible gaming by the World Lottery Association.