A Sydney disability pensioner has accused NSW Lotteries of hiding information which could help prove he bought a Lotto ticket in 1997 that won $3.3 million.
David Owen Renshaw is suing the organisation over the unclaimed prize, saying he handed in his ticket at Granville Railway Station newsagency in the week following the September 23, 1997 draw.
"I believe that NSW Lotteries is knowingly withholding a record of a document which could assist myself," he told Justice Michael Walton on Tuesday in the NSW Supreme Court.
The judge later reserved his decision on an application brought by NSW Lotteries to strike out Mr Renshaw's lawsuit which alleges breach of contract, misleading conduct, negligence and breach of trust.
The organisation's lawyer Justin Hogan-Doran submitted the case was "doomed for failure", noting Mr Renshaw had not produced a ticket to make his claim, a requirement under the lottery rules.
Mr Renshaw, who is representing himself, says when he handed in his ticket to the newsagency he saw the words "provisional winner" come up.
But, he says, the shop attendant - who didn't speak English very well - threw the ticket in the bin saying "no winner" and refused to return it.
NSW Lotteries submitted the words "provisional winner" do not come up on screens, but Mr Renshaw said he had been searching patents for two-and-a-half years.
He did find one using those words but now "it does not come up when I punch into the internet".
The unclaimed $3.3 million is one-third of the first division prize in Oz Lotto Draw 188.
Mr Renshaw says he purchased a "mixed entry coupon" made up of six games of Systems 7, six of Standard Games and an Auto Quick Pick entry coupon.
But Mr Hogan-Doran said a search of all tickets purchased in that time frame did not reveal any matching the one described by Mr Renshaw.
"It took Mr Renshaw 19 years to file his claim," he said, noting his case had not been brought within the time limit required by law.
But Mr Renshaw, who said he is dyslexic and has an "explosive anger diagnosis", listed many events that happened over those years including accidents, cancer and quadriplegia, which affected his day-to-day life.
He first believed he was "the true winner" around Boxing Day 2015, when he was chatting to his friend who spent about $200 a week on tickets and was hoping for a upcoming big win.
When he told his friend about his "recollection", he was told it must mean something.
"He punched it in his phone and I dropped to he ground and started writing letters to NSW Lotteries."
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