Worldwide interest in Sault's 18-year-old lotto winner: OLG

Media organizations from around the world have been in contact with OLG to tell the story of the 18-year-old Sault woman who recently claimed one of Lotto 6/49’s biggest-ever prizes, says a spokesperson for the lottery corporation.

Tony Bitonti of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) said the story of Juliette Lamour’s $48-million win on her first-ever lottery ticket is making its way around the world.

“I can tell you I am getting calls from various people from international news organizations — BBC called, Agence France-Presse called and a number of U.S. media outlets are calling, too,” said Bitonti, in a phone interview with SooToday.

A Hollywood script writer could not have written a better story, he said.

“Everything lines up. The youngest, first-time player hits the jackpot, her father is a financial planner, she doesn’t know how to buy a lottery ticket and called the father. I can just imagine the call,” said Bitonti. “It’s a great story, overall.”

Lamour sat down with Village Media for an exclusive interview last Friday, the same day she picked up an over-sized cheque for $48-million with her name on it at a ceremony in the Sault’s OLG offices. 

Bitonti said the winners of most lottery windfalls must pick up their cash at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto, but an exception was made for Lamour.

Despite being the home of OLG headquarters, the Sault no longer has its own Prize Centre.

“We did in the early days when OLG first moved to the Sault, in the 90s there was a northern Prize Centre in the Sault,” said Bitonti. “In talking to Juliette, her primary goal was to not miss school, so we said it’s up to you if you want to come to Toronto to collect the money or we can come to the Sault.”

“We could not pass this opportunity up to do a great event in the Sault for a Sault customer at our headquarters,” he added.

Lamour played her part perfectly, said Bitonti.

“This is overwhelming for anybody and for an 18-year-old to do what Juliette did, took a lot of courage,” he said.

Media organizations have been peppering Bitonti with requests to interview Lamour and her family about the life-changing win, but he noted it is unlikely to happen.

“They are done now, they really are done. They just want to go on with their life in private in peace and calm. It will be nice, it will be lovely,” he said of Lamour and her family’s wishes for privacy.

One of the aspects of the story that has appealed to worldwide media is the extreme dollar amount won by someone so young. 

Bitonti consulted his counterparts at the lottery corporations in each province and couldn’t find another example of an 18-year-old winning as much money as Lamour.

“All of them said no one has won $48-million, I think the closest was something like $700,000 in a lottery similar to our Cash for Life, but in Quebec,” said Bitonti. “Never to this amount of $48-million. That is a Canadian lottery first.”

Bitonti also has to explain to some American media outlets that a Canadian lottery winner does not lose a single penny of the windfall to taxes. Although their jackpots can soar into the billions of dollars, typically an American lottery winner loses a large percentage of those winnings to the Internal Revenue Service.

“You win $48-million, you take home $48-million, you win 60, you take home 60. They find that fascinating,” said Bitonti, referring to Canadians taking home all of their winnings.

Another compelling component of the story, said Bitonti, is the fact the winning ticket was Lamour’s first-ever lottery purchase — and the fact she had to call her father to ask how to buy it at the counter.

“When I recount the story people say: 'She didn’t know how to buy a lottery ticket?’” said Bitonti. “If you’re a first-time buyer you don’t know what to buy. Just like if you’re not a coffee drinker and you go to Tim Hortons — you don’t know what a double double is. You don’t know how to order from Starbucks. Trust me, I’m not a coffee drinker, I don’t know how to order from Starbucks.”

Because he works for OLG, Bitonti is unable to play lottery games in Ontario but said he does sometimes play PowerBall or MegaMillions when he is in the U.S.

“I work in lottery, but I don’t know each and every individual lottery out there, so I can imagine how overwhelming that moment must have been for her and just everything else that followed along with it, as well,” he said. “I have always said you only need one ticket to win, Juliette is the perfect example of that.”

Bitonti said according to the rules, every major prize winner must publicly share their name, the city where they live, and agree to be photographed.

“It’s about accountability,” he said. “People want to know who the winners are.”

Over and above that, winners can opt in to being used in OLG’s marketing.

“Juliette has agreed to that for a certain amount of time,” said Bitonti. “When she says no more, we abide by that, as well.”

Bitonti was coy when asked if Lamour’s win will be helpful in marketing the lottery to younger people.

“We want to appeal to a broad demographic of players because we want to make sure everyone can enjoy the games that we offer, and we always say, in a responsible way,” he said.

In preparing Lamour for Friday’s media circus, Bitonti recalled telling the young winner to enjoy the moment of receiving her cheque, noting many who go through the experience wish they could do it again.

Later that same day, Bitonti was at home when a colleague informed him Lamour wanted to speak to him.

“I get on the phone and I hear this voice: ‘Tony, you were right. I do want to do it again,” and it was Juliette,” said Bitonti. “It makes us feel good when they have a good winner experience.”

“Could she win again?” added Bitonti. “Eventually, who knows? We live in a world of odds, randomness and chance and anything can happen, and this is one of the stories where truly all of the stars did align.”