Lotto: Clark’s Newsagency, Albany sells WA’s only division one ticket in Saturday’s draw

An Albany lottery syndicate believed to have been playing the same numbers for about 30 years will share a first division Saturday Lotto prize worth more than $648,000. Clark’s Newsagency in Albany, owned by Greg Hopkins, sold the winning division one ticket. Mr Hopkins said the syndicate had been playing the same numbers for about 30 years and the win showed that “they do come up”. He said the syndicate members were in disbelief when they came in to check their ticket and find out how to claim the prize. “They were probably in a state of shock and really weren’t sure what the process was,” he said. “They looked at the ticket, put it down and walked away then came back to double check it and looked again before wandering in to have a chat. “We’ve contacted Lotterywest and they’ll go there to claim their prize.” Mr Hopkins said it had been about four years since his business had sold a winning division one ticket, which he claimed was its longest streak without a top prize winner. “We usually sell one or two a year,” he said. “We sold a $10 million one and that was four years ago, so we were starting to think it was about time.” It was the first time Sue Hitchings had sold a division one winner and she said it was something she had wanted to “tick off her bucket list” since starting at the newsagent. Lotterywest spokesperson James Mooney said it was the 39th winning division one prize sold in WA this year. “It always adds an extra layer of excitement when the winner comes from regional WA,” he said. “To top Saturday off, we’re also celebrating a Set for Life Division Two player from Morley Millions, that ticket is worth $5,000 a month for the next 12 months.” Saturday’s draw also created 13 Division two winners, with each prize worth more than $10,000.