A visit to the neighbourhood pub Wednesday, means Mark and Rosslynn Denton will soon no longer be Langley residents.

Renovations wrap up this weekend on their Walnut Grove townhouse, and after winning half a million dollars on Wednesday鈥檚 Lotto 6/49, Mark insists the for sale sign will go up on their Langley home next week.

鈥淎s soon as it鈥檚 done this weekend, it goes up for sale,鈥� he said, noting they鈥檙e moving to northern end of Vancouver Island, where thanks to their unexpected windfall, they鈥檙e going to buy a home.

While Mark, 54, buys lottery tickets pretty regularly, when he learned the lottery grand prize was up to $25 million for Wednesday, he decided to up his chances by purchasing another ticket with the extra.

He typically plays the same numbers, and always goes for the extra. This time was no exception. It paid off big when he matched all four of the extra numbers.

He bought the ticket on Wednesday from the self-serve lottery terminal at the Walnut Grove Pub, just 20 minutes ahead of the cutoff for that night鈥檚 draw.

He learned of his win on Thursday morning.

鈥淚 got up, got my coffee, and was sitting on the couch with the wife, watching the news, and I went online to see the winners. I saw some butthead in Langley won half a million, so, I figured I better check my tickets鈥� I , and guess what honey, I鈥檓 that butthead.鈥�

Rosslynn, his wife of 30-plus years, didn鈥檛 believe him immediately, and had to scan the ticket herself before realizing Mark was telling the truth.

鈥淪he said, 鈥榦h, wow, what are we going to do now?鈥�,鈥� Mark recounted. He simply insisted they go and get the money first.

鈥淚t still hasn鈥檛 really sunk in yet,鈥� he told the Langley Advance Times Friday, when he arrived in Richmond to pick up the cheque.

Beyond buying a house with their winnings, Mark, a truck driver by trade, said he will likely buy himself a new vehicle (his wife just bought a new vehicle last year). As for retirement, he鈥檚 not to sure if that鈥檚 in the cards.

鈥淚 got the weekend to think about it. We鈥檙e going away to Whistler this weekend, so we鈥檙e going to discuss things,鈥� Mark said, noting Friday that he was still in shock and the reality was still sinking in.

But, the couple is definitely on the same page as to what the majority of the money will go toward 鈥� that being a house on the island.

鈥淚 trucked the island years ago and I fell in love with it,鈥� Mark said. 鈥淲e vacation there every year, and we have friends over there.鈥�

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This windfall easily dwarfs his last big lottery winning. He won $3,000 on a 50/50 ticket at the same pub a few years ago.

They haven鈥檛 told all the family yet, which including their daughter and eight-year-old son. Mark said they鈥檙e hoping to spring the news on them this weekend during a pre-arranged birthday trip to Whistler.

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roxanne.hooper@langleyadvancetimes.com

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