Time just wasn’t on Joel Ifergan’s side.

A mere seven seconds was all it took to separate the Montreal area man from sharing half of a $27 million lottery jackpot nearly seven years ago.

Ifergan purchased two quick pick Lotto Super 7 tickets on May 23, 2008 at a local convenience store just before the 9 p.m. deadline for that Friday night’s draw.

One of the tickets was printed at 8:59 p.m. But the other was processed seven seconds after the deadline, making it eligible only for the following week’s draw.

When Ifergan checked his numbers the next day he discovered the second ticket had the winning combination — but was dated for May 30, because of a delay in Loto-Quebec’s computer system.

The $27-million jackpot was ultimately awarded to another person.

Ifergan, 60, argued he purchased both tickets before 9 p.m. and was entitled to half of the jackpot.

Loto-Quebec disagreed.

What ensued was a lengthy and expensive legal battle for Ifergan, whose luck ran out Thursday when the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed his leave to appeal lower court rulings that sided with Loto-Quebec.

In a telephone interview Thursday after the Supreme Court decision was released, a dejected Ifergan said his “crusade’’ is now over. He has spent $100,000 of his own money fighting the case, and will be responsible for a yet to be decided amount for Loto-Quebec’s legal bills.

“It’s Loto-Quebec’s internal method of processing transactions that delayed my ticket. I wasn’t late,’’ said the accountant and married father of two children.

Quebec’s Court of Appeal found that Loto-Quebec’s central computer can take eight to 10 seconds to process a ticket request. Nevertheless, a gaming contract is governed by strict conditions’’ the lower court said in its May 30, 2014 ruling dismissing Ifergan’s court challenge.

Among the arguments Ifergan and his lawyers from Toronto firm Bennett Jones LLP attempted to make to the Supreme Court were that Loto-Quebec’s advertising “misleads consumers by giving the impression that selections made before 9 p.m. will be honoured.’’

They also argued that the corporation’s terms don’t disclose the length of time it takes to process tickets or that selections may “unilaterally’’ be applied to a subsequent draw if Loto-Quebec can’t process the selection in time.

Loto-Quebec adopts a practice — not prescribed by its regulations — where contracts form only after a ticket selection has been received and processed by its central computer, Ifergan and his team argued, adding these practices violate consumer rights under Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act.

Jean-Pierre Roy, a Loto-Quebec spokesperson said the corporation is pleased with the Supreme Court decision, which he said validates Loto-Quebec’s policies on ticket sales and deadlines.

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Mehernosh Iranpur, 60, the Montreal-area convenience store operator who sold the tickets to Ifergan, stood to make a $135,000 retailer’s commission had the transaction happened the way Ifergan wished.

“That’s a very nice chunk of money’’ he said wistfully.

“My machine showed 9 p.m. but theirs (Loto-Quebec’s central computer) showed past 9 p.m.’’ said Iranpur, who still runs the convenience store.

He said he followed procedures and is remaining “neutral’’ in the case.

“I just put in the ticket, punch in the numbers and a ticket comes out. How much time it takes, or when it (the ticket) comes out, I have no control over that,’’ Iranpur added.

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