An Innisfil woman is celebrating a major lottery win after becoming the first person to participate in OLG’s newest experiential lottery game, Instant Money Machine.
Andria Iordanous, a small business owner, won $75,000 after receiving an Instant Money Machine ticket as a holiday gift from her husband.
“It’s a good thing he didn’t know what to get me for Christmas because he ended up buying me this ticket,” she said.
After scratching her ticket and revealing a Money Machine prize, Iordanous was unsure what it meant. She took the ticket to a retailer for validation, where she learned she had won a live event experience.
“When the clerk told me, ‘OMG! You won!’ I was ecstatic,” she recalled. “I called my husband while other customers in the store were cheering. It was a crazy, exciting moment.”
Iordanous prepared for the live event by practicing at home with a prototype her husband built. When the day arrived, she had 30 seconds inside the real Money Machine to grab as many flying bills as possible.
“It was great. Very exciting. Seventy-five big ones—woo hoo,” she said. “The money was flying around, and I knew I just needed to grab as much as I could. I could hear my amazing family cheering me on. It was one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done.”
Still in disbelief over her win, Iordanous has yet to decide how she will spend the money but says she will continue playing Instant Money Machine in hopes of another chance.
Instant Money Machine is a $5 game that combines scratch play with prizes revealed in-store through an animated lottery terminal screen and, in some cases, an in-person live event. The game offers three ways to win: through instant cash prizes, an animation-revealed prize at an OLG retailer, or a Money Machine live event, where participants can win between $25,000 and $100,000.
Iordanous’ winning ticket was purchased at Town Centre Variety on Innisfil Beach Road.
