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CALGARY -- The city's newest millionaire is also Calgary's biggest lottery winner ever -- and he doesn't plan to ever work again. Robert Foote, 56, a Field of Dreams RV dealership employee, was delivering a vehicle to Lethbridge when he stopped at the Vulcan Auto Truck Stop for fuel a few days before the Lotto 6/49 draw last Wednesday.
He used his Petro Points to buy a $2 quick-pick ticket, hoping to score a portion of the $9,998,288 million jackpot.
Little did he know he'd claim it all, making him Calgary's single biggest lottery winner ever.
"On the Friday after the draw, I was checking my ticket," said the province's fourth lottery millionaire in as many weeks.
"I only look at three numbers at a time and at first I thought I won 10 dollars. When I read the second line, I thought I won 20 bucks, then I thought, hey, wait a minute. I thought it wasn't real -- it still doesn't seem quite real but it is, apparently."
The winning numbers were 7, 19, 32, 35, 36 and 43.
When he told his wife Alice they were millionaires, she shrugged it off. "I thought he was just joking ... it still feels like a dream," said Alice, a receptionist, adding her husband frequently plays practical jokes on her.
"We parked the cheque in the bank. We want to sit back and gain a little more perspective of what's happening," Robert said.
He has frequently bought lottery tickets when the jackpot hits more than $5 million and often has thought about what he'd do if he won.
Both plan to retire, buy an RV and travel the world. They'll also buy a home in B.C.
Robert hasn't decided if he'll tip the gas station attendant who sold him the ticket.
In 1989, a $10-million Lotto 6/49 jackpot was split between three Calgarians. Recent Alberta winners include an Edmonton couple who are $8.6 million richer thanks to a Lotto 6/49 draw on July 3, and an Edmonton man who won $1 million in a July 14 Western 6/49 draw.