Man nabs $1-million Lotto prize while filling up car in Surrey, B.C.

Lottery winner Sam Choi is seen in this image handed out by the BCLC.

A gas station is rarely the place where life-changing moments unfold, but for one Surrey, B.C., resident, it was where he learned he was about to become $1-million richer.

Sam Choi was filling up his car at a gas station in Surrey when he decided to check a ticket he had recently bought from the July 26 Lotto 6/49 draw at the Quick N’ Convenient store on University Drive.

“I was at Chevron on 104th Street and Scott Road and thought something was wrong at first,” Choi told the BCLC, recalling the confusion and shock over what he had seen on the self scanner.

“I saw the purple numbers and saw six digits, so I knew it was good.”

Choi first chose to spill the beans of his great windfall to his wife, although she took some convincing.

“She was shocked and didn’t believe it,” he says.

“She had a happy face and thought I was joking.”

Staying clear of any rash decisions, Choi says he is taking some time to decide how to spend his winnings. In the meantime, he plans to continue working, not that that is doing much in the way of dampening his spirits.

“I’m really happy,” he says.

A guaranteed prize of at least $1 million is awarded in every Lotto 6/49 draw.

If the gold ball is drawn, the winner receives the Gold Ball Jackpot, which starts at $10 million and can grow as high as $68 million.

The odds of winning the guaranteed prize depend on the number of tickets sold. The odds of winning the classic Lotto 6/49 jackpot of $5 million are approximately one in 14 million.

BCLC says lottery players in the province have taken home more than $46 million from Lotto 6/49 so far in 2025.