Massachusetts store owner wins $1 million

Mar 2, 2006, 9:21 am (11 comments)

Massachusetts Lottery

Sometimes it pays to break a New Year's resolution.

After years of buying lottery tickets in the store he managed, Greg Lambert resolved this year it just wasn't worth it anymore. Last week, though, he caved and bought a $10 million Texas Hold 'Em ticket.

"Something just told me to buy a ticket, so I did," he said.

The $10 ticket was a $1 million winner.

"I bought it, scratched it, looked again, and looked again, and looked again ..." said the 38-year-old Wayland resident.

The manager of the check-cashing store Check X Change in Worcester, Lambert estimates he has sold millions of dollars worth of lottery tickets in the 16 years he has worked at his father's store. Surrounded by tickets every day, he said he bought one whenever he had spare cash in his pocket. He spent about $40 a week on tickets, but never won more than $2,500 on any one.

"(My brother-in-law) and I came to the conclusion that we never sold a big ticket, so what was the use in our buying them?" he said.

But at 6:30 Monday evening, he made an exception for himself. At first, he bought a Powerball ticket in Rhode Island and won $4.

Encouraged by the modest win, he thought, "What the hell, I'll just try it," and bought the lucky Texas Hold 'Em ticket that for a week had been sitting in the same store he worked at every day.

After scratching the ticket and staring at the matching numbers for over a minute, he scanned it at the register to be sure it was true: The first big ticket the store had sold was the one he sold himself.

Lambert called his wife, Sharon, right away.

"I told her to sit down first, and then I told her," he said. "She told me five or six times, 'You're lying. You're tricking me. Is this a joke?'"

The $1 million prize money will be paid out over 20 years. After taxes, each $50,000 payment is reduced to $35,000. Though "not life-changing," the money will come in handy for Lambert, who has a second job teaching people how to become EMTs.

He doesn't plan to stop working, and he'll use the money to pay bills, continue work on an addition to his home and pay for his three children's college tuition.

The Lambert family moved to Wayland from Northborough two years ago. Sharon, whose father owns Wayland Power Equipment, grew up in Wayland.

As an added bonus, the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission pays a $10,000 commission to the store that sells a winning ticket - good news for Lambert's dad, Raymond.

"Obviously, I'm pleased," said Raymond Lambert, though he is quick to point out that his son was at no advantage by working in the store. "There's no way you can predetermine a winning ticket."

After his one fortunate slip, Greg Lambert says he is back to his old resolution. This time, he means it.

"Now I'm actually one of the few people in the world who's up on the lottery," he said. "I'm done."

Wayland Town Crier

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Chewie

Sure have been a lot of store owners winning scratch off lately!  Don't suppose it has anything with them watching ticket after ticket being a loser, or tickets after ticket being a winner.  Some rolls are "magic" rolls, and who whould know better about the rool to choose then the owner.

I don';t think store owners/clerks should be allowed to puchase in their store.

tg636

It is hard to trust that a store owner who wins at scratch tickets at his own store is entirely due to luck. In most sweepstakes and contests they have rules against employees entering or winning their own sweepstakes, because if someone from the same company wins it gives the appearance of collusion, fraud and an inside job and undermines trust in the contest. 

 

 

BabyJC's avatarBabyJC

When I once worked at a convenience store, we were allowed to buy tickets either before or after our shift, but not during our shift.

Uncle Jim

We are not allowed to purchase Scratch Off's or any lottery game (daily, jackpot or otherwise) where I work.  On duty...off duty...no purchases.  PERIOD NO EXCEPTIONS!

In fact if we purchase a winner somewhere else we cannot even redeem our tickets at work. 

Paraphrased our company policy is:

It is not enough for Caesar's wife to be pure...she must appear to be pure and therefore above suspicion and beyond reproach.

Jim 

 

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

I wonder if 7-11 has a rule against employees buying tickets at the store. A neighbor of mine was fired from 7-11 last year for stealing lottery tickets which she denies. I can't believe she even admitted that to me.  Hmm..could the fact that she's always drunk had anything to do with her termination?  :-)

I agree with everyone here. Being a store owner or working at a store definitely gives a person an advantage. Once I sat at a roulette wheel in Vegas and bet on 22 over and over again. As soon as I stood up and started to walk away I heard "Twenty-two!" (that was in 1981 & I can still hear the dealer)  So even if there's no cheating, eventually a winner might come up if they watch the tickets long enough.

Chewie

There are thiefs everywhere, and lottery scractch-offs are too easy to get it at.  They are just laying there.  There was a woman in the paper two months ago who stole $5,000 worth of scratch off over six-months time frame.  She was a 25-year employee.  Throwing away 25-years for a scratch-off.  Go figure!  Don't people ever weigh the pros and cons of piddly amounts?

masslottery's avatarmasslottery

I wish it was me the store were they hit it is around the corner from my house  Rant

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

There are thiefs everywhere, and lottery scractch-offs are too easy to get it at.  They are just laying there.  There was a woman in the paper two months ago who stole $5,000 worth of scratch off over six-months time frame.  She was a 25-year employee.  Throwing away 25-years for a scratch-off.  Go figure!  Don't people ever weigh the pros and cons of piddly amounts?

I don't steal, but everyone has a different level of honesty.  Now let's say the above woman took all those tickets, went home and scratched them and won a million dollars. She then goes back to the store and pays for the tickets she took.....could she be prosecuted for stealing? Hmm. Maybe that's what was on her mind but she got caught before she could hit a big winner.  There aren't that many big winners anyway, so she could have scratched every ticket in the store and come up short.

Chewie

There are thiefs everywhere, and lottery scractch-offs are too easy to get it at.  They are just laying there.  There was a woman in the paper two months ago who stole $5,000 worth of scratch off over six-months time frame.  She was a 25-year employee.  Throwing away 25-years for a scratch-off.  Go figure!  Don't people ever weigh the pros and cons of piddly amounts?

I don't steal, but everyone has a different level of honesty.  Now let's say the above woman took all those tickets, went home and scratched them and won a million dollars. She then goes back to the store and pays for the tickets she took.....could she be prosecuted for stealing? Hmm. Maybe that's what was on her mind but she got caught before she could hit a big winner.  There aren't that many big winners anyway, so she could have scratched every ticket in the store and come up short.

Would never accuse you of stealing.  I was speaking in generalities.  However, in your example, she stole the tickets.  That was the intent. Theft is theft.  If you speed and do not get caught, are you breaking the law? YES!  If she had not hit a winner, would she still have went back and paid for them?  It goes back to that other thread of the woman using a stolen credit card, then using it to buy a ticket, then winning.  If you rob a bank, use the money for MM tickets and hit the jackpot.  Then you go back and return the money.  Does the crime go away?  Only in your mind.  Every judge in the country would put you in jail for robbing a bank.  Its like the adultress, who claims they never loved their sexual pardner, but loved their spouse.  Is it adultry?  Did Bill have sex with Monica?

free ticket

I work at a store that sells tickets and do play there believe me theres are no real advantages of playing at a store that sells lottery one time some1 bought 5 10$ tickets and lost on all 5 I played aftre him and lost on the next4 before winning 10$ bought the next 1 with taht 10 $ and lost out of money 2 tickets later I sold the 500$ winner to a customer so its all just righht place right time

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

congrats on the win!!

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