From Hangover to Heaven: Quebec Man Mistakes $35M Jackpot for $3,500 Win
Imagine waking up the morning after a night out, a bit groggy, and checking your lottery ticket expecting a few thousand dollars at most—only to find out you just became a multi-millionaire. That’s exactly what happened to Jacques Deschamps, a construction entrepreneur from Montérégie, who thought he won $3,500… but actually bagged a jaw-dropping $35 million .
It all started casually enough. Jacques, a regular Lotto Max player, scanned his ticket on the Loto-Québec app the morning after enjoying the Valleyfield Regatta festivities. At first, he saw what looked like $3,500. Then, confused, he thought maybe it was $35,000. Still skeptical and a bit hungover, he handed the ticket to his wife. That’s when the real shock hit—she confirmed it was $35 million . “I thought someone was playing a joke on me,” he laughed. “But when my wife confirmed it, we even went to wake up our son. I couldn’t keep that news to myself!”
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Jacques isn’t planning to go overboard with spending. Although he’s eyeing a nice condo in Montreal and dreaming of European travels, he insists he’s not the impulsive type. After years of building a business, he’s now ready to hand over the reins to his son and enjoy a well-earned retirement with his family by his side.
But Jacques wasn’t the only lucky one that week. Wilhelmina Van Leeuwen, a retired cybersecurity technician from Montreal, was also holding a winning ticket from that same $70 million Lotto Max draw. At first, she too thought she had won $35,000—until a store clerk at Dépanneur du Village told her it was, in fact, $35 million . Still in disbelief nearly a day later, she said it hasn’t fully sunk in. “It’s going to take time to feel real,” she shared, holding back tears.
Wilhelmina, who’s been retired for over 20 years, plans to live out the dream she always imagined when buying lottery tickets—sharing the windfall with family, donating to good causes, and traveling, maybe in a bit more luxury this time. “I’ll still travel,” she said with a smile, “but maybe in first class now.”
The two winning tickets were sold at separate convenience stores—each of which will receive a $350,000 commission. And remarkably, this is the second time in just a few weeks that Lotto Max’s top prize has landed in Quebec. Just last month, 15 coworkers from Trois-Rivières split a $20 million prize.
It’s stories like these that remind us: sometimes, life really does change overnight. So maybe check your ticket… and maybe double-check it.
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