Man misses out on £5m Lottery jackpot by just one number
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A man who came agonisingly close to winning the National Lottery has missed out on the £5 million jackpot by just one number.
The ticket was bought by a man in his 60s from his local newsagent in Enfield, North London, as part of a syndicate in a bid to win the July 28 Lotto jackpot.
On the night of the draw, he was delighted to discover he'd matched five out of the crucial six numbers he needed to scoop the full jackpot of £5,162,779.
Although the sixth number narrowly evaded him, the man thought he'd be in for a fairly significant win nonetheless.
The newsagent who sold the ticket told MyLondon that the customer returned to the shop after discovering he had matched five numbers - and was shocked to discover how little he had won compared to if he had got that crucial sixth number.
He was then told he would be winning a total of £1,750 for matching five out of six numbers.
Had he also matched one of the bonus balls it would have been £1 million.
The newsagent, who did not want to be named, said: “He came in with the ticket and it was like a big shock really [that he hadn't won as much as he hoped he would], it was just disbelief. It’s hard to explain the actual feeling.
“He’s a regular customer, a lively guy, well-known in the area, everyone knows he won and was just short of that [jackpot] and everyone just felt for him.
"£1,800 - how far does it go these days?"
The newsagent, who can only pay out £500 in prize money, said he had to send the man away empty handed and cursing his luck.
Another customer, who was in the shop at time, said she saw the man looking flustered, as he asked the newsagent to double check if that was all the prize money he he could get.
“He looked gutted. It's not every day that someone misses a jackpot by one number," she said.
"I felt sorry for him because you want to hear happy news, If they're lucky you hope a bit of good luck rubs off.
“It’s better not to win anything than being so close to winning a fortune, that puts you in another league, but £1,000 doesn’t."
The newsagent also revealed that near misses were not that unusual.
He said: “I had a man last year, he had won £12,000 but it could have been £6 million, and then there are people who don’t check.
"Another man here, he does the same numbers every week, he didn’t do it that one week and all the numbers came up. It happens.”
When asked if he thought his shop was lucky he revealed he had at least one person who had won big money in the past.
“It’s a good feeling to hand back the ticket and say there’s something big here," he said. "But the shop is definitely lucky for me, it was rundown when I first got it and I’ve done well.”
And he had a word of advice for would-be millionaires, cautioning against the allure of the bigger jackpots.
He explained: “You have more chance on the Lotto than Euromillions; it’s much harder to win.”
