Windsor resident Shelly Desbien admits she shed “happy tears” when the Big Spin wheel at the OLG prize centre landed on $500,000.
“I thought it couldn’t be real,” Desbien told staff of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation on March 17.
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Desbien’s top prize of a half a million dollars was the result of a journey that started when she bought a ticket for The Big Spin at the Mobil gas station at 2430 Dougall Ave. in Windsor.
An Instant Game that costs $5 per play, The Big Spin gives ticket holders a chance to spin the digital wheel on the ticket seller’s lottery terminal.
One of the possible outcomes of the digital wheel is an opportunity to spin the oversized physical wheel at the OLG Prize Centre, where prize amounts range from $100,000 to $500,000.
The odds of winning a turn on the Big Spin wheel are one in 1,143,840.
Desbien said she would have been happy for the wheel to land on $100,000. “I had butterflies in my stomach when I arrived at the Prize Centre to spin the wheel,” she confessed.
“I loved seeing the wheel in person… I never expected to win the top prize.”
A retiree, Desbien said she has been playing the lottery her entire adult life: She was inspired by her grandmother, who had a scratch ticket habit.
Desbien’s brother accompanied her to the Prize Centre for moral support.
Her lucky spin was recorded on video by the OLG for posterity.
“My life is gonna change,” Desbien said, wiping away tears. “Now I can buy my Jeep. In cash!”
“I don’t have any other plans at this time, but I’ll have fun figuring it out.”
Windsor-Essex residents have had good fortune recently on the OLG’s prize wheel: Leamington resident John Watkins managed to spin up an $800,000 prize playing The Bigger Spin earlier this year.
