Second glance reveals $1 million lottery win for St. Catharines man

Jerry Romanoff didn’t have his glasses on when he decided to check the numbers on his Daily Keno ticket.

The St. Catharines retiree scanned his ticket on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) app and thought he had won $125.

A longer look revealed a much different prize. Saying yes to Encore and matching all seven numbers in exact order on the Aug. 3, 2024 evening draw actually resulted in a $1 million win.

“I didn’t have my glasses on and thought I saw a prize of $125. This would make sense as a prize for a Daily Keno win, but then I noticed a bunch of zeros,” said Romanoff who scanned the ticket o a Sunday morning. “I stared at my phone screen for about 20 seconds before it finally hit me that I may have won on Encore.

“When I checked the winning Encore number and saw that my ticket matched, my heart started racing. I turned to my wife saying, ‘I think I won big!’”

Romanoff, who has been playing the lottery for about 25 years, normally enjoys buying Lotto 6/49, Ontario 49, and Lottario tickets on the weekends and always makes it a point of playing Encore on his tickets.

After realizing he had won a huge prize, Romanoff headed to the store to have his ticket validated.

“Once it was confirmed that my win was real, I called my wife back,” said Romanoff while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up his $1 million prize. “She was so happy and excited for us,” Jerry said with a big smile.

As for what he’ll do with his newfound money, the retiree is planning to share it with his family and take a nice trip with his wife.

“Winning is an overwhelming feeling,” he said. “It’s amazing.”

Romanoff purchased the winning ticket at Avondale on Linwell Road in St. Catharines.