A humble Ferntree Gully couple have celebrated with a chuckle and a cup of coffee after discovering they scored a division one prize of almost $800,000 in the weekend’s TattsLotto draw. 

The Melbourne locals held one of the five division one winning entries across Australia in TattsLotto draw 3997, drawn Saturday 9 November 2019. Each entry won a division one prize of $797,869.82. 

When we contacted the winners to confirm the prize, the couple recounted the moment they discovered the win. 

“We were just sitting at home in the lounge when all of a sudden my partner started giggling,” the happy woman explained. 

“I said to him ‘What on earth are you laughing at?’ and when he told me, I thought he was having me on. 

“He’s told me he’s won before but usually he only has a few numbers, so I usually scan the ticket on the app to double check the prize. 

“I was about to scan the ticket to double check this time but then I saw he had circled every number in one game on the ticket and that’s when it sunk in. 

“It was so nice! We just sat about in the lounge laughing. 

“We didn’t even have anything to celebrate with except a cup of coffee!” 

When asked how they planned to use their windfall, the chuckling couple confessed they had stayed up all night deciding how to enjoy their prize. 

“We did not sleep, I can tell you that!” the woman laughed. 

“I think I got about three hours sleep. I kept waking up my partner to say, ‘talk to me about it!’. I was so excited. 

“We decided we are both going to get a new car, but we will probably be sensible with the rest and save it. 

“We said we would use it to treat ourselves to a concert or to see a sporting event which isn’t something we could normally do. 

“This will just give us the freedom to do a bit more of the fun things in life. 

“We are pretty simple people and we are fortunate we don’t need much. This will just help with those small things we don’t usually get to do.” 

The happy pair, who wish to remain anonymous, purchased their entry at Ferntree Gully Newsagency, Shop 2, 69 Station Street, Ferntree Gully. 

Ferntree Gully Newsagency owner Des Higginbotham said he was thrilled his outlet had sold its tenth division one winning entry. 

“It’s such great news! We are very happy!” he exclaimed. 

“This is the tenth division one winning entry we’ve sold. We are hoping to sell number eleven soon. Maybe in next week’s draw. 

“We are so thrilled it is a local to the area and regular customers. 

“We wish them all the best with their prize!”