All regular lottery players have once led their loved ones to believe, just for fun, that they had won the jackpot.
Only, when it does happen for real, we should not be surprised that we are yelling a hoax opposite.
This is what lived a Euro Millions bettor who validated his grid on the Web and who won a jackpot of more than 30 million euros in the draw on October 2.
When he ran to reveal the incredible news to his wife, she didn't jump to the ceiling.
And for good reason.
"He had been pranking me a few times already, so I absolutely did not believe him!"
», She has just confided to the forces of the Winner Relations department of the Française des jeux, during the payment of the gain announced on Tuesday by the FDJ.
"The moral is that you should never say never", laughs her joker husband.
This lucky guy, who had found the 5 good numbers (6 - 12 - 15 - 40 - 45) and the two good stars (3 and 9) is a regular Loto player but very occasional Euro Millions.
It was only the second time that he had tried his luck in the European lottery.
When he received the email announcing a big win, without specifying the exact amount, he first imagined that he was going to cash 17 million euros, the basic jackpot of Euro Millions.
It was by logging into his "player space" that he discovered that in reality he was going to receive a nest egg of 30,627,859 euros.
France, European champion of luck
This is the second biggest win on the Internet at a game of chance in our country, behind that of 72.9 million euros last May 15, also won at Euro Millions.
Thanks to this new rank 1 winner, France is the European Lucky Champion: it occupies the first place in jackpots pocketed at Euro Millions since its birth in 2004, with 109 super-lucky out of 498 in total on the Old Continent, followed by the United Kingdom (108 winners) and Spain (105 winners).
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The nouveau riche, who wishes to remain anonymous, wishes, according to the FDJ, "to continue working for the moment and take the time".
The projects of the multimillionaire couple, obviously hardly tempted by the madness of grandeur, are rather classic: to shelter the family from want, to set up an association, to repay debts then to afford a primary or secondary residence and finally travel.