An Australian man who won a lottery prize worth AU$3.5 million (US$2.5 million) said it wasn't entirely a surprise — he had dreamed the win just three weeks earlier.
The lucky winner now believes premonitions do come true after winning the First Prize of $20,000 a month for 20 years in the latest Set for Life draw – following a dream he had where he won the lottery.
The ecstatic man's entry won the First Prize in Set for Life draw 1137 on Sept. 16th.
The Sydney man is the third First Prize winner to land in New South Wales this calendar year, and the 42nd First Prize winner nationally since the game began.
Speaking with a NSW Lotteries official this morning to confirm the win, the working man and his wife couldn't contain their excitement at discovering the winning news.
"Oh my god, oh my god, $20,000 a month for 20 years?!" his wife shouted with glee.
"I am speechless, I can't even think straight.
"This is great news, thank you so much! This is absolutely amazing.
"We are going to be jumping up and down for days. I hope my husband doesn't have a heart attack from excitement."
The husband explained he always believed he was going to win Set for Life.
"Three weeks ago I had a dream where I won Set for Life," he said.
"Then yesterday when we were sitting on the beach relaxing, I looked at my wife, grabbed her hands and I said to her, 'We are about to win something, you just wait'.
"After that dream, I just had this overwhelming feeling that we were going to win, and turns out I was right!"
When asked what the happy couple planned to do with the 20K on replay, they admitted they already had a few plans.
"My husband will definitely retire early, and I will go part time. Then, we will go to Poland to visit family," the ecstatic wife explained.
"We are moving to Surfers Paradise in Queensland next year because we brought a property, but it needs a lot of work. So some of it will go towards renovations as well.
"There are a lot of people who need help in this world, so we are definitely going to give a lot to a few different charities and start volunteering. It would be impossible to spend that much money, so I think it is important to help as many people as we can."
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased his winning 2-SET entry at Wareemba Newsagency, 276 Great North Road, Wareemba.
Wareemba Newsagency employee June Yao said the store was ecstatic to have sold a First Prize winning entry.
"We are so excited for our winner!" she said.
"This is great news. We will definitely be celebrating this win.
"Hopefully this means we can deliver some more big wins to our customers!"
Across the country, the New South Wales winner held the only entry that won First Prize in Set for Life draw 1137 on Sunday September 16, 2018, which offers a guaranteed First Prize of $20,000 a month for 20 years for up to four winners in each draw.
The winning numbers in Set for Life draw 1137 were 22, 37, 18, 31, 27, 3, 12, 16, while the bonus numbers were 8 and 34.
Tax free and anonymous, what more could you want?
Congratulations to the lucky couple in New South Wales, Australia!
Dreams and premonitions are real.
What in the world..... 8 NUMBERS??? Plus 2 Bonus #'s?????? My goodness...
Then you got to consider how many has dreamt about winning the lottery and how many of them has won? Dreamt about winning the lottery = no doubt many. How many of these have won? Probably only one or two.
You need to match 8 of 8 to win the $20k / month
The bonus numbers are for lower tier prizes.
Click the link below for the results of Set for Life Draw 1137
https://www.australianlottoresults.com.au/set-for-life-draw-1137
About Set for Life
Set For Life is currently Australia's newest lottery. Its inaugural draw was held on Friday 7 August 2015. The game was originally announced in February 2015.
Set For Life differs significantly from other Australian lotteries, in that the top prize is not paid out in one lump sum, but rather as a fixed sum of $20,000 AUD per month over the course of 20 years. Other prize divisions are paid in full, however. There are eight prize tiers in total and draws are held every single day at 9pm AEST.
Tatts Chief Executive Robbie Cook told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time that "it's everyday dreaming. It's not somebody looking to stop working and hang up their shoes." He also told the publication that the game was specifically aimed at, and designed for, a younger audience, primarily those aged between 20 and 40.
How to Play
To play you pick a "Set" of eight numbers from a range of one to 37. This set will then be entered into the next seven days draws and you must play a minimum of two sets to participate.
Two bonus numbers are drawn after the main eight numbers, giving ten numbers drawn in total. These numbers are used to determine other prizes.
To win the jackpot, and get $20,000 AUD paid out each month for life, you must match all eight regular numbers.
How to Win
The chance of winning a Division 1 prize in Set for Life is 1 in 38,608,020 based on 1 Set and 1 in 19,304,010 based on 2 Sets.(*Minimum play for Set for Life is 2 SETS.)
In order to win the Division 1 prize, you must match all 8 main numbers in a single game.
Set for Life Odds
Thank you for clarifying this for the team. Here I thought all those numbers you have to match and it makes the prize seem almost measly. Makes perfect sense now!
Congratulations