An Australian man who accidentally bought two identical lottery tickets for the same drawing ended up winning a $33 million jackpot. Photo by Robert Lessmann/Shutterstock

March 29 (UPI) -- An Australian man's mistake in buying two identical tickets for the same lottery drawing paid off when he scored a nearly $33.2 million share of the jackpot.

The $50 million Oz Lotto jackpot was split evenly between three winning tickets, two from Victoria and one from Tasmania, and lottery officials said they quickly learned the Victoria tickets belonged to the same man.


The Melbourne man told officials he was playing his usual numbers and he had intended for the second ticket to be for a different drawing, but he later discovered he had accidentally bought both tickets for the same Tuesday night drawing.

The accident ended up earning him two thirds of the jackpot, instead of the half he would have received with only a single working ticket.

"I might think about retiring. First maybe a new home or a holiday," the winner said. "I'll definitely share it with my family."