Winner has solid poker face after finding out about the big win
By Kate Northrop
RICHMOND HILL, Canada — A lottery winner from Ontario was so stunned by her $60 million Lotto Max lottery win that she sat in silence next to her mother for 30 minutes.
Camellia Kazemi Talachi of Richmond Hill is the latest $60 million Lotto Max jackpot winner in Ontario, but processing the news took some serious concentration on her part.
Talachi bought a Lotto Max ticket for the drawing on Nov. 29, 2022 at the Bayview Kitchen Food Fair on Bayview Avenue in Richmond Hill. While she's been a regular lottery player for the last four years using her own numbers, she switched over to using Quick Picks a few months ago. That decision would prove to be a fruitful one in that lucky drawing.
However, she did not realize that the jackpot-winning ticket was sold in her community until months later. Last week, she visited a gas station and thought to check her ticket while her mother waited in the car.
"I stopped at a gas station and decided to check my LOTTO MAX ticket, unaware the $60 million winning ticket was sold in Richmond Hill," Talachi told the Ontario Lottery. "I gave my ticket to the clerk, and when the winning jingle started playing, I knew I won something but didn't know how much until OLG called the store and told me it was $60 million!"
Back in the car, Talachi's mother sat blissfully unaware of the commotion happening inside and the fact that her daughter was in the building crying happy tears.
"I saw my life pass before my eyes as I stood there in shock," she recalled. "I kept thinking, 'Is this real?' I couldn't concentrate and started to shake. The clerk, who was very excited for me, helped calm me down so I could go back to my car without worrying my mom that something was wrong."
While most lottery winners would never be able to contain themselves after such a tremendous win, Talachi drove home for 30 minutes without uttering a word about the jackpot. She continued on in silence, mentally preparing herself to break the news to her family.
"I stopped to pray for a moment and then, what felt like an out of body experience, I said the words, 'I am the big lottery winner in Richmond Hill!'" the winner said of the big reveal. "My sister thought I was kidding. But when I started jumping up and down and cheering, she started to do the same. The entire family was overjoyed for me!"
Talachi's ticket matched the seven regular winning numbers for the Lotto Max drawing on Nov. 29, 2022, which were 1, 7, 8, 19, 32, 38, and 39, with Bonus number 47.
With the prize money, the winner says she wants to create opportunities for employment as an entrepreneur.
"I want to be an entrepreneur and create jobs, but I need to take the time to figure out how to do this sustainably," she explained.
Talachi is also an art lover, and so she'll travel the world with her family to see historic masterpieces.
"A win this big needs to be shared and who better to share it with than the people I love the most," she added. "This seems so surreal. It's a blend of happiness filled with wonderful possibilities of the unknown!"
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Thanks to Evan B. for the tip.
Good for her! Sounds as though this young Lady has got her head on straight.
* l like her Johnny Cash outfit. Congrats Camellia.
Remember, like most European countries,no taxes on lottery in Canada.She will get the whole 60m. US should learn from this.
Wow this is great. Congratulations. I hope she stays safe now that her name is out there. 🙏
She gave the ticket to the clerk ( sound familiar?) There was a jingle and OLG called the store and told her it was 60 million. Is this a security feature that when a big ticket winner is scanned Ontario Lottery Games called the place where the ticket was scanned?
Yes, It is because so many store clerks were keeping the tickets and telling people they didn't win anything. I saw an undercover segment on the news about it. Lottery officials went undercover with "winning tickets" and they caught a lot of clerks scanning it, seeing it was a winner and then saying it didn't win and then go and try to cash it themselves (Where they were arrested).
That is cool, thanks goldfish.
Love this story.
Do Canadian lottery winners have to right to remain anonymous? In Australia, lottery winners have the right to remain anonymous and the vast majority do so. Whenever there is a large jackpot win, general details of the winner are released, but the identity of winner is very very seldom published.