Philip Tsotsos claims former co-workers cut him out of $1M lottery prize after being in pool for years: suit

A Canadian man is suing 16 of his former co-workers for allegedly cutting him out of their $1 million lottery winnings after being in a ticket pool with them for years.

Philip Tsotsos, of Windsor, Ontario, said he feels like he was stabbed in the back after not receiving his share of the loot from the 2021 Max Lotto ticket and has filed a civil suit claiming he is the seventeenth winner.

“I took care of these guys like they were family,” Tsotsos told The U.S. Sun. 

“These are my friends. It hurts here,” he said, pointing to his heart, “more than it hurts my wallet.”

Each player in the syndicate pocketed $62,500 after the big win. If Tsotsos had been included, they each still would have received $58,000.

Tsotsos is demanding $70,000 and costs plus interest in his lawsuit.

“I’m not backing off on this until I see it through. They f**ked me and I will have my day in court over this,” he said.

A statement of defense filed by the 16 defendants in Ontario claims that the defendants were not friends with Tsotsos — or even knew him at all.

 “The defendants specifically deny that any of them were ever ‘close friends’ or ‘good friends’ with the plaintiff,” the document said. “Some of the defendants were the plaintiff’s co-workers. Others did not know him at all.”

Tsotsos maintained that while he did not know everyone in the pool, as some were from another workplace, he was good friends with others.

The back and forth legal battle, he said, has become personal attacks on his character, shattering seven years of friendship, he said.

“So for seven years, I was good…in two weeks I became Jeffrey Dahmer when it comes to the lottery,” he told The Sun. “I became some monster they couldn’t trust.”

After changing jobs, he said the friendships remained strong enough that members of the group would text him ahead of a major drawing and ask him if he wanted in.

He did not pay into the pool in the instance of the winning ticket. The understood agreement was that he would pay into the pool the next time he saw members of the group again, since he no longer worked with him. 

 “Mr. Tsotsos did not pay to play, so we deny that he is entitled to any of the relief that he is seeking, and we’ll be vigorously defending the claim,” said defense attorney David Robins, who represents the winners.

“In this instance, he did not play and he was not included.”

Tsotsos’ lawyer Joseph Deluca said that they can prove he was a member of the pool through text messages, which Deluca says amount to a “clear contract.”

“Everything I have in texts is prior to the draw… I can tell you it’s nothing but excuses,” Tsotsos said.