A worker from the Toyota car plant in Melbourne, Australia, opted out his work's lottery syndicate just before it picked up a big win, but he won't be a lottery loser because his work buddies have decided to give him a cut of the prize anyway.
The syndicate scooped half of the AUD$ 30 million Oz Lotto jackpot on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, splitting the prize with a couple from the Gold Coast.
The syndicate presently consists of 16 members, but the dropped-out worker brings their number up to 17, so their AUD$ 15 million prize should provide each man with AUD$ 882,352.
Workers at the car plant have confirmed the rumor that the winnings will be split 17 ways.
"The group has come to an agreement to share the money with the worker who missed out—that’s what’s being said anyway," a worker said.
The win is doubly lucky for the syndicate because the Toyota plant is scheduled for closure in 2017 and redundancy was looming on the horizon.
"We always play the big Oz Lotto jackpot draws together," a syndicate member said. "We’re all planning to do things like pay off the mortgage and take a holiday," he added.
Oz Lotto drawings are held in Queensland Australia on Tuesday's at 10:40 GMT. To win the Division one (jackpot) prize players need to match all seven main numbers and prizes are awarded as a one-off, tax-free payment.
