Mississauga lotto winner gets cheered on by a stranger after winning $50,000

Ali Yari didn’t know quite what to make of it when the lottery machine at his local store froze while checking his Daily Keno 8 Pick ticket recently.

The 64-year-old Mississauga man quickly realized, though, that it meant he had won $50,000 in the July 10 evening draw.

“I was at the store replaying my ticket and the terminal froze. I asked what happened and the clerk told me I was a Big Winner. I was shocked,” Yari said while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up his winnings. “Another customer in the store was cheering for me and I went home right away to tell my family. Everybody started screaming and hugging me.”

The Mississauga father and grandfather says he’s played the lottery regularly for 25 years, and “This is my first big win.”

Yari added that the winning moment is something you have to experience yourself.

“It doesn’t matter how much you’ve won; in that split second, your feelings change so quickly. It’s hard to explain,” he said with a smile.

Yari plans to use some of the money to take a family vacation.

“Wherever we end up, we will have lots of fun together,” he said.

The winning ticket was purchased at Dairy Jug, on Bloor St. in Etobicoke.