Ontario man created Excel spreadsheet to help him win the lottery

Lots of number crunching and dedication have finally paid off for a faithful Ontario lottery player, who used their analytical skills to become one of the province's newest jackpot winners.

Rendall Pennie of Kirkfield is now $118,002.40 richer thanks to his probably very-long Excel spreadsheet, which he's been using to constantly track winning numbers in hopes of identifying a pattern.

The construction worker says this is his largest win to date, scoring the second prize in the Jan. 4 LOTTO 6/49 draw.

"I've been playing LOTTO 6/49 since it came out. I put together an excel sheet with all the winning numbers and analyze the data to pick the most common numbers," he told the OLG in Toronto while picking up his novelty cheque.

That's a lot of data, seeing as LOTTO 6/49 was launched all the way back in 1982, giving Pennie 41 years of data to work with.

And what better way to win than to hear that classic life-altering earworm, the "Winner Gagnant" jingle, ringing from your OLG app?

"I heard the winning jingle and I didn't believe it. I showed my partner and her eyes opened wide and she said, 'No way.'"

These coins offer the father and grandfather an opportunity to change his life for the better and prove that dedication does pay off. 

"This money going to do so much for me," Pennie told the OLG.