Mistake lottery ticket wins California man $380K

Oct 30, 2015, 8:42 am (11 comments)

California Lottery

He was already known as a regular customer at the 7-Eleven on West Olive Avenue in Burbank, but now Pat Tucker is one happy customer after clerk Manjit Singh accidentally sold him a winning Powerball ticket last week worth $380,774.

Singh routinely sees Tucker while working at the 7-Eleven, where Tucker will typically purchase two Mega Millions tickets, twice per week.

But last week, Singh accidentally sold him a $2 Powerball ticket, and when he realized he hit the wrong button, Singh offered to cancel the sale.

"He said, 'It's OK, I'll buy that one,'" Singh recalled, and when he handed the ticket to Tucker, Singh told him, "It's a lucky one."

His hunch was right.

The ticket contained five matching numbers of the six drawn in the Oct. 21 Powerball lottery, with the only missing number being the Powerball number, according to lottery officials.

Tucker, who is 57, told California Lottery officials that he plans to use a portion of the money to add on to his house.

"It'll be a little less stress, but other than that, hopefully everything stays the same," Tucker said, according to a statement from the California Lottery.

Although Tucker did not immediately respond to a request for comment, it appears one of his routines has not changed.

Tucker continues to purchase lottery tickets at the 7-Eleven where Singh works.

"He comes every day, and every morning, he's joking with us," Singh said. "He's a very friendly guy. He's lucky. I feel happy," he said of selling him the winning ticket. "He's happy, too."

LA Times

Comments

Get paid's avatarGet paid

Congrats to the winner.The lottery Gods works in mysterious ways.

music*'s avatarmusic*

 Pat Tucker, You are one lucky and thoughtful person. Those mistake tickets make the news. Party

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Destiny works in mysterious ways...

Erzulieredeyes's avatarErzulieredeyes

I never leave my mistake tickets behind for someone to luck up on my good fortune....and I always make sure to ask the clerk if there were any unpaid tickets I can purchase since I've won smaller prizes before.

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by music* on Oct 30, 2015

 Pat Tucker, You are one lucky and thoughtful person. Those mistake tickets make the news. Party

That is great news. 

Years ago my late Mother told me about a clerk in WA state rang up a ticket, customer refused it and gave her a hard time.  She had to buy it and won millions!

Only negative is the para-mutuel payouts for California lotteries MM & PB.  Rarely does it pay more than regular MM/PB states.  In this case he lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars!  But hey, I'd be tickled pink with that 'change' anyday of the week!

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

Quote: Originally posted by Erzulieredeyes on Oct 30, 2015

I never leave my mistake tickets behind for someone to luck up on my good fortune....and I always make sure to ask the clerk if there were any unpaid tickets I can purchase since I've won smaller prizes before.

I Agree!

Stack47

Singh accidentally sold him a $2 Powerball ticket, and when he realized he hit the wrong button, Singh offered to cancel the sale.

I know of at least 5 states where PB and MM tickets can't be canceled, but for $2 I'd buy the ticket too.

sully16's avatarsully16

Cool story, congrats to the lucky guy.

brownsy's avatarbrownsy

That happened in the little store where I purchased my tickets--only it was a scratch ticket-the

store clerk did not hear the customer so he gave him the wrong ticket-the man said he did not want it -the 

customer behind him bought the ticket--it was a two hundred thousand dollar winner

I am like you guys I always take the mistake tickets

Sosaman66

I think a bunch of states can't cancel sales. However, I think the clerk meant that he'd not sell the Powerball ticket to him and instead print out Mega Millions tickets as originally requested. Either way, a happy accident!

MotoX2

Happy for the guy!!! Congrats!!  He won off a single draw!!!

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