Ouch!!!!!

This is a snippet out of a paper in Newfoundland...30 million down the crapper...OUCH

St. John’s, N.L. — The Canadian Press
Published on Thursday, Jun. 03, 2010 2:09PM EDT

Last updated on Thursday, Jun. 03, 2010 6:09PM EDT

.Imagine the anguish: someone let a $30-million lottery win get away.

Shawn Noel's heart sank when, one by one, he checked the numbers on a rejected lottery ticket.

The Newfoundland shopkeeper was asked by officials at Atlantic Lottery Corp. late last month to retrieve one of the thousands of tickets that are rejected by patrons every month across Atlantic Canada.

Mr. Noel immediately recovered it and, with a lottery official at his side, compared the numbers on the voided ticket against those that would have captured the May 21 Lotto Max jackpot.

They matched perfectly, meaning an unlucky patron came within a hair's breadth of a $30-million windfall.

“I was kinda blown away,��  Mr. Noel, owner of The Corner Store in Goulds, N.L., said Thursday with a chuckle.

“Yep, it could have been $30-million. But anyway, that's it, that's all you can do.��

As the vendor, Mr. Noel would have been entitled to one per cent of the draw, or $300,000.

He explained that the unidentified person came into his convenience store and bakery on the day of the draw and asked for a ticket.

But the cashier printed off one worth about $27, much higher than the roughly $10 ticket the person wanted.

The clerk voided it and printed off another when the customer said they didn't want the first one.

It raises the question whether the potentially winning numbers could have been on the $10 ticket the customer had initially requested.

“It's possible, but not very likely,��  Mr. Noel said.

Goulds was once a separate town of about 12,000 but was amalgamated into St. John's in 1991. The voided ticket is the talk of the rural community as locals wonder who lost out on the $30-million win.

“I don't know if anybody knew the person, to tell you the truth, because nobody said any names,��  said Kim Reid, 40, who lives in the Goulds and tends bar at Brewskies, where talk about the ticket has been the buzz for more than a week. “For sure if they did, we would know by now.��

Hindsight is 20-20 and everyone is saying they would never have handed back the life-altering jackpot, Ms. Reid said, but it's possible the purchaser only had enough money for the lower-priced ticket.

“It's hard, I guess, you'd have to be in that situation, depending if you had the money on you or not, you know?��

Ms. Reid first heard about the fortune that got away last week from another bartender who happened to be in The Corner Store when Atlantic Lottery called with the news.

“Maybe they weren't meant to have it,��  she said of the near-miss millionaire. “Who's to say?��

Jennifer Dalton, a spokeswoman for the lottery corporation, said the clerk followed company procedures by voiding the ticket.

“When we found out about it, there was a little disappointment, for sure,��  Ms. Dalton said. “Having a $30-million jackpot winner here would have brought great things for us and it would have been really great for us to celebrate.��

She said there are 52,000 voided tickets every month in Atlantic Canada, but she didn't know of one with such a hefty prize.

Ms. Dalton said the loser, or almost-winner, could take another run at it this Friday when the jackpot will be $50-million.