A 48-year-old small businessman from Newcastle,

I wonder if he is a small 48 year-old man who owns a business or just a plain 48 year-old man who owns a small business......Uhhhhhhhh.

A 48-year-old small businessman from Newcastle, NSW [Australia], has waited six months for the right psychological moment to claim a $2 million (US$1.65 million) Lotto prize won in January.

"I'm a bit of a crazy sort of bloke. I had the winning ticket in a tin in a safe spot so there was no rush," the winner told stunned NSW Lotteries officials today.

"I actually thought about leaving it another couple of months. There was something about claiming that much money that I wasn't ready for, I had to get my head around it.

"I just wanted to prepare myself mentally before I put my hands on it. When you're running a small business you never know where the next dollar is coming from, and it was a comforting thing to have the ticket as a buffer against anything that might go wrong financially," he said.

The father of four said that his children were "rubbing their hands about how to spend it", but he wanted to make sure they weren't spoiled by sudden wealth.

"I'm going to keep on working, and the kids are going have to work for a living too, but it takes the pressure off. You can go out and do silly things like buying sports cars after you win Lotto, but that's not for me," he said.

The winner said "superstition told me I was going to win one day".

"I get these bursts of intuition and I follow them through. My wife went to a clairvoyant about 12 months ago and as soon as she walked in she was told that she was going to come into some big money.

"The day after the draw I checked my numbers on the internet. When I saw how much I'd won I had to punch myself in the head about half a dozen times to make sure it was real," the winner joked.

The winner is planning to take an overseas holiday and donate some money to charity.

He purchased the winning 14 standard game entry costing $12.00 from Lake Haven Centre Newsagency at Shop 31, Lake Haven Shopping Centre, Gorokan. Owner David Goodwin said that it was great to hear the mystery has finally been solved.

"It has certainly baffled us over the last few months and I did worry that perhaps the ticket was lost and the winner would never be found, so I'm very glad to hear that's not the case. I'm very excited for the winner and I hope all of their dreams come true," Mr Goodwin said.

Thanks to myturn for the tip.

A 48-year-old small businessman from Newcastle, NSW [Australia], has waited six months for the right psychological moment to claim a $2 million (US$1.65 million) Lotto prize won in January.

"I'm a bit of a crazy sort of bloke. I had the winning ticket in a tin in a safe spot so there was no rush," the winner told stunned NSW Lotteries officials today.

"I actually thought about leaving it another couple of months. There was something about claiming that much money that I wasn't ready for, I had to get my head around it.

"I just wanted to prepare myself mentally before I put my hands on it. When you're running a small business you never know where the next dollar is coming from, and it was a comforting thing to have the ticket as a buffer against anything that might go wrong financially," he said.

The father of four said that his children were "rubbing their hands about how to spend it", but he wanted to make sure they weren't spoiled by sudden wealth.

"I'm going to keep on working, and the kids are going have to work for a living too, but it takes the pressure off. You can go out and do silly things like buying sports cars after you win Lotto, but that's not for me," he said.

The winner said "superstition told me I was going to win one day".

"I get these bursts of intuition and I follow them through. My wife went to a clairvoyant about 12 months ago and as soon as she walked in she was told that she was going to come into some big money.

"The day after the draw I checked my numbers on the internet. When I saw how much I'd won I had to punch myself in the head about half a dozen times to make sure it was real," the winner joked.

The winner is planning to take an overseas holiday and donate some money to charity.

He purchased the winning 14 standard game entry costing $12.00 from Lake Haven Centre Newsagency at Shop 31, Lake Haven Shopping Centre, Gorokan. Owner David Goodwin said that it was great to hear the mystery has finally been solved.

"It has certainly baffled us over the last few months and I did worry that perhaps the ticket was lost and the winner would never be found, so I'm very glad to hear that's not the case. I'm very excited for the winner and I hope all of their dreams come true," Mr Goodwin said.

Thanks to myturn for the tip.