Calgary construction worker says $66M lottery win is gift from God

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Calgarian James Jutzi said he’s known for 38 years that God intended for him to win a big lottery windfall.

But he didn’t know it’d be $66 million, a Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball jackpot record for Western Canada.

“I believe in God and God showed me not in one dream but in a series of dreams that I won the lottery, it was four nights in a row back in 1986,” said Jutzi, 64.

“I didn’t know how much I was going to win or when I was going to win … it is a lot of money and it hasn’t sunk in 100 per cent right now. It’s very surreal.”

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Those multiple 1986 visions included purchasing dream vehicles with the winnings, to which he’s faithfully following through with plans to buy his mother a Cadillac Escalade and a Porsche 911 Turbo for himself.

The Calgarian said he’ll also financially help family members and others with his massive windfall, because “I’m not a greedy person, I like to share.”

Jutzi bought his ticket that had the winning number for the June 15 draw, 25057749-01, at the 7-Eleven store at 3550 32nd Ave. N.W.

“I went up to the counter and (showed) the guy who checked it, and his eye went (buggy),” said Jutzi.

“He was more surprised than me.”

When the construction worker told his boss, he was greeted at first with disbelief and then asked if he’d be coming into work.

“I said ‘no’ … absolutely not, I’m retired,” he said.

Jutzi said he might also purchase a condo or a mansion “outside of town somewhere,” while travelling within the country.

“There’s a lot to see in Canada. I don’t want to leave Canada.”

He’ll likely put his winnings in GICs and live off the interest, which would be “more in a month than I make in a year, and that’s after taxes.”

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The Ontario native said he’s been playing the lotteries since the 1970s, doing so before he was old enough and winning $100 at age 15.

But Jutzi said he doesn’t think winning a record jackpot has changed him.

“Some people are going to have a totally different attitude toward me,” he said.

With the Gold Ball draw, held after the Classic draw, one selection is drawn from all the numbers issued, guaranteeing a winning ticket. That winner will receive either $1 million if a White Ball is drawn, or the jackpot if the Gold Ball is drawn. The sequence of draws leading to a Gold Ball jackpot being won starts with a total of 30 balls, with 29 being white, and a top prize of $10 million. If a White Ball is drawn, it is not replaced for the next draw, and the jackpot grows by $2 million.

The windfall is just shy of the record overall lottery prize for Calgary — $70 million won in 2022.

Lotto luck has struck other Calgarians in recent months, with three people claiming a $50-million 6/49 Gold Ball prize last December.

Since Lotto 6/49 was relaunched in September 2022, Albertans have hit jackpots for prizes totalling $165 million, says Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis.

Jutzi’s windfall is just short of the potential maximum $68 million for the Gold Ball.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X: @BillKaufmannjrn

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