Sports knowledge leads to big lotto win for Mississauga man

Kirk Bhagan is the latest in a long line of Mississauga residents to recently cash in big in the lottery.

Instead of relying on the luck of what lotto balls drop from the drum, though, he made his own luck to win $88,967.40 playing Pools, a sports betting game run by the OLG.

Each $5 wager playing Pools allows you to pick your sport and select who you think will win each matchup, OLG officials say. Get the most correct picks and you win or share in the prize pool.

The winning ticket was purchased at Bob’s Fast & Fresh Convenience, on Portage Road in Niagara Falls.

OLG officials have delivered big cheques to more than a dozen Mississauga residents in recent weeks and Bhagan continues the winning ways for residents of Canada’s seventh-largest city.

Like a handful of other recent winners, Bhagan also chose to supply OLG with the required photo only and no accompanying words telling the public what he plans to do with the money or detailing his immediate reaction upon learning he’d won the prize.

And that’s perfectly fine, according to the OLG, which operates the lotteries and hands out all prizes big and small. Big winners aren’t mandated to give interviews detailing their good fortune and their reaction to it.

OLG publishes all wins of $1,000 or more on its website for 30 days. For major prizes, OLG requires a photo of the winner. The lottery corporation may also send a news release and photo of major prize winners to media in local communities.