A lottery player scanned his tickets at a Shirley, New York, convenience store called JackSpot! and when the screen flashed "BIG WINNER," he told the cashier, "The machine is broken."
But it wasn't — he was holding the $20-million Mega Millions ticket, the mystery jackpot winner sought by the New York State Lottery since the March 25 drawing, said convenience store co-owner Howie Frank and cashier Laura Marckesano.
"He's not catching what I'm saying," said Marckesano, who scanned the ticket twice. "So I smacked his shoulder — 'You won $20 million dollars!' That kind of woke him up."
Lottery spokeswoman Christy Calicchia said the ticket holders put in a claim for the prize Wednesday but she declined to provide a name, citing an upcoming news conference.
The ticket, bought at the Gascon gas station in Coram, should have 19, 26, 51, 57, 73 and the Mega Ball number 15.
Calicchia said the winner has two payout options: a pretax lump sum of $11.1 million or the $20-million annuity.
Frank said the winner will go public after full discussions with legal and financial experts.
He is a 48-year-old orderly at Southampton Hospital, the store co-owner said. "He said he likes his job and he's going to keep his job," Frank said, adding with a laugh, "We'll see."
He's also a regular breakfast patron who lives nearby, and Thursday last week, his usual coffee and buttered roll were served with the jackpot news and happy tears — his and Marckesano's. At first, he stared up, looked down and was silent before the euphoria set in, the cashier said.
Store surveillance video shows the winner clasping his forehead with both hands several times, pacing and snapping a photo of the winning ticket with his cellphone to send to someone.
"We were jumping up and down," Marckesano said. "He gave me a big bear hug. . . . Five or ten minutes of my life with him — it was like a dream."
When Marckesano called Frank to tell him to rush over because a customer won $20 million, he replied, "$20,000?"
When the lottery player called his wife, it took not just Marckesano but two customers to convince her it was no joke.
"She said to me he never checks his tickets but he plays all the time," Marckesano said. "He had a pocket full of tickets."
When Frank arrived, about 25 customers were buzzing around the winner, he said: "They just wanted to be near a millionaire, I guess."
Later, the Mega Millions player said he wanted a new Dodge Ram truck because his had been totaled last year.
As he left JackSpot!, which focuses on lottery games and has a "scratch-off lounge," Marckesano rushed after him.
"I wanted to make sure he was OK to drive," she said. "He said he was OK. He said 'I'm not going to change. I'm not going to change. This is not going to change my life.' "
Awesome.
He's out on Long Island.
It's a good thing that we have store clerks that can be trusted. I say sign your tickets in ink if you are going to hand them over to someone else to check or confirm that they are winners. Trust but verify.
All the big lottery winners say " This big win is not going to change my life! " ," Bull shi* ", he will be broke in just a few years, that's my prediction.
Congratulations to the mystery Winner
So there are scanners out there that will tell you the amount over $500 much less tell you to the exact million what you won.
The MM result is out. I hate it!...I always get just 3 numbers all the time...2 numbers and the MB. Anyway not bad for $2 tickets.
Just give us a scanner that tells us exactly how much we won, that way we don't have to hand over our tickets to the clerk, instead of the 4king scanner, that flashes "BIG WINNER". These tightwads are part of the problem.
Yeah, I wish there's a phone that could scan lottery numbers. Good idea.
Congrats on your Win
You can call and get the numbers
That's right, didn't think 'bout that. Somebody won the MM JP. I'll get the PB...I hope...hehehehe
Good Luck to you PB $70 Million
...and good luck to you too! We half to the $70 Million...
Someone won the $30M today
in before people complain about california winning again D:
Good advice. I often know how much I have won before handing my ticket to the store clerk and I often sign my winning lotto tickets in ink!!!
That is quite impressive. Despite my 11 wins since the new MM matrix went into effect, almost half -a-year ago (six months , to be precise), I have only managed to match two winning numbers, including tonight.
Love it when people win low jackpots after the insane change in odds. Just like with Powerball, MegaMillions is going to learn why Powerball readjusted theirs after a year or two.
Where can I find here which state won?
Good a.m. all!
Yessir! I love it too. MM will have to introduce changes to price or matrix soon if this keeps happening so often.
Best story yet, he was humble after winning Thank God for him
Another winner! Congruatlations. Glad to hear that he did not loose that ticket he had in his pocket.
Nice win!
I found $10 in a parking lot yesterday! Hoping that this is my lucky weekend!
Yay! PB day today...good luck to all, including me...hehehehe
Good luck to all who are playing tonight! I am skipping PB and Mega Million as I am participating in the Ohio Classic Lotto for the next 9 drawings. I am well aware that the likelihood of winning is zilch but hey I can dream!
That's right...we'll never know if we don't try. Good Luck To You!
One time the scanner said $8 winner and i did'nt believe it.
I only bought 2 PB tickets again, we'll see if I get 3 numbers again as always...hehehe
They will probably increase the megaball from 1-15 to 1-35, which will completely throw everything out of whack. Greedy 4kers.
congratulation to the winner
Those are scary words M- the odds are in the stratosphere as it is - what " changes" do you expect to see- perhaps MM jacking the odds into the 350 mil to 1 odds?
I hope you wrong..
If he's right, I wount be buying MM tickets anymore.
Didn't win...hehehehe
Congrats to the lucky winners, enjoy!
Congrats to the winners! Stay level headed! It's a good win, but small enough to disappear with poor planning.
Hopefully I'll join the ranks of lucky winners one day soon!
one day will come for some of us soon enough .....
just put your money in the machine and
Awwwwwww....
Why in gods name would you take a $20 million dollar ticket to the store and risk it! There are many ways to check your ticket in private are you kidding me! How dumb can you be I guess ppl want to get robbed!!!
Dont need one there's a dozen apps out there that will give you lottery results, or you can just pull up the webpage in your phone's browser
Congratulations, but I doubt he's keeping his job. LOL
Not once people know who he is.
That's really cool he won though.
I usually go to the main source (i.e. megamillions-DOT-com or powerball-DOT-com), and they will usually have a story about what state the winner(s) are from. In this case, it was california, again.
Sorry, this was in reply to someone asking a question of where to find what state the winner came from. The 'quote' function didn't work like I thought it would.
Thank you...found it.
He will be spending more money.LOL
You are spending $10 per drawing to get 3 numbers.
Check your lottery tickets on the lottery website.
Play the Powerball lottery.
You are spending $1 instead of $10 per drawing.
Mega Millions is bating players into buying tickets at low jackpot levels.
Mega millions can't compete with Powerball $2 ticket cost.
Buy a $10 Powerball lottery ticket.
Your have better chances of winning MM and PB than Ohio classic lotto. Winning the lottery is a numbers game, the odds do not matter.
You have more losers than winners.LOL
We will see a $5 national game very soon. Powerball $2 ticket price set the standards for all drawing games.
Perception is that lottery players are smart.LOL
Ha, ha, the guy is so funny!
Congratulation for him, wishing he enjoys good, keeps on happy!