BC man wants to travel the world, give back to community after $40M lotto win

Phuc Duc (Daniel) Chau says he likes to buy lottery tickets based on a gut feeling.

He got one of those gut feelings in May while making a quick stop at a 7-Eleven in Burnaby to buy some sparkling water.

After Chau grabbed a Bubly, his favourite brand of sparkling water, from the fridge, he noticed the employee’s “bubbly nature” and took that as enough of a sign.

The Lotto Max ticket he purchased for the May 23 draw ended up being a life-changing piece of paper, scoring him a whopping $40-million jackpot.

“I was at work when I found out,” the Vancouver resident explained. “I was going through my bag to find a cough drop, but I saw that I had two lottery tickets in my bag and decided to scan (them).”

The first one didn’t win anything, but the second ticket he scanned through the BCLC Lotto! app, the one he bought alongside the Bubly, produced the massive win.

“I have never seen that many zeroes in my life, ever,” he explained. “I dropped my phone and then called the BCLC right away!”

At the time of his prize claim, Chau still hadn’t shared the news of his win with anyone, not even his partner, saying he wanted to share the news with them “in a special way.”

As you might expect, Chau says the win “means a lot” to him.

“It opens up an opportunity for me to give back to my family, community and the world all around me,” he noted. “It’s not meaningful unless you can share this with those who need it.”

He hasn’t decided whether he’ll quit his job, but says that he wants to continue to support his community “in a different way” if he does.

And the $40-million win will also allow Chau to fulfil his dream of travelling the world, but he hasn’t really thought that far ahead yet.

“There are so many places I want to go to, so I haven’t fully decided,” he said of potential travel plans.

The winning ticket was purchased at the 7-Eleven on Imperial Street and Boundary Road in Burnaby.