A Richmond retailer who sold the winning ticket of a $60-million Lotto Max jackpot is also receiving a windfall.
Verna Holmes has been selling lottery tickets at Seafair Smoke & Mixer for more than 35 years.
As the retailer who sold the ticket in the July 26 draw, she received a cheque of $60,000 Tuesday.
Holmes is keeping mum on how she plans to spend the prize money.
"I haven't given it much thought, really. But we will do a lot of good things with it," she said.
Retirement isn’t part of the plan. She said she'll continue to sell lotto tickets because she "loves the job."
She's also seen an increase in customers since word got out that her store sold the winning ticket.
"They're coming from all over the place. I had one from Chilliwack," she said.
The BCLC awards retailers, who sell a winning ticket with a prize over $10,000, a percentage of the prize paid.
"Our valued retail partners provide a critical role in supporting our players’ experiences and delivering sustained revenue to the Province of B.C., and I couldn’t be more proud to present the largest-ever seller’s prize in B.C. to Verna Holmes, a true pioneer of lottery in B.C.," said Kevin Gass, the vice president of lottery gaming.
READ MORE: Retired fisherman wins B.C.'s largest-ever lotto jackpot
A retired fisherman came forward as the person with the winning ticket and told reporters at a news conference last month that he plans to "live like a king."
With the winnings, Joseph Katalinic plans to take his family to Hawaii and to travel to the town in Europe where his parents were born.
Holmes said Katalinic was a regular customer who would come to the store every morning to buy lottery tickets.
He typically played with his own numbers but that day, he purchased a quick pick.
Holmes said she had "a feeling" that was the winning ticket.
"I was hoping for a good friend to walk in, but he was the best friend I had so he got it," she said with a smile.
The lottery corporation says the odds of winning at least something are one-in-seven, but the odds of matching all seven numbers in a set are estimated at one-in-33,394,800.
