“I couldn't sleep,” Rhonda Starkell said, as quoted by the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC). So in the middle of the night she decided to pass the time by checking her lottery tickets online. WCLC puts the hour at 2:30 a.m., and one of those tickets turned out to hold a C$1 million prize from the Lotto 6/49 draw of 2 September 2026.
One ticket, two very different reactions
Her first move was to wake someone up. “I went onto WCLC’s website and was checking my numbers and then woke up my partner and said, ‘I think I just won the lottery!’” she said.
Her partner's reaction was, as WCLC puts it, considerably more relaxed. In Starkell's words: “My partner woke up, checked my ticket and said, ‘I think you did win,’ and then went back to bed.”
She couldn't do the same. “I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't,” she said. “I was in complete shock.”
The Gold Ball Draw behind her C$1 million
The prize came from the Gold Ball Draw, which every Lotto 6/49 play enters alongside the Classic Draw. On 2 September the ball drawn there was white, as the full results for that draw show. A white ball means a fixed prize rather than the Gold Ball jackpot, and for Starkell, that prize was C$1 million. She bought the ticket at a drugstore on 132 Street NW in Edmonton, according to WCLC.
Two birthdays and a list of priorities
Starkell says the day she found the prize carries special meaning: “The day I checked my ticket was also my late father's and grandson's birthdays!”
WCLC says she already has a list of priorities for the prize money. “Pay off the mortgage, get a new vehicle, invest the money, and maybe take a trip to Holland (Netherlands) and Greece,” she said.
Take away the figure and most of this Lotto 6/49 story is ordinary in the best sense: a night without sleep, a check of her numbers on a website, a partner who checked the ticket and went back to bed. A C$1 million prize is a genuine long shot, and the draw that decides it is random.
Her list starts with a mortgage and ends, maybe, in Greece. Wherever it leads, it began on a night she couldn't sleep through.
Play for fun, within a budget you set in advance. If gambling has stopped being fun, support is available through the problem gambling helpline for your province or territory — the Responsible Gambling Council lists every one on its Help for Canadians page.
Always confirm winning numbers, prize amounts, and deadlines with the official operator before acting on a ticket — the operator's published results are the only ones that count.
Sources
- Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), winner release, 7 October 2026 — A Sleepless Night and a $1 Million LOTTO 6/49 Win!
