COLUMBIA, SC (November 24, 2010) – Four months and twenty-four days passed before a Barnwell man realized he had a slip of paper worth $250,000. What took so long?
Turns out, the Mega Millions® winner has a strict system he sticks to. He saves his tickets. He accumulates a stack in an envelope, about 40 tickets this time, and when he’s ready checks them all at once.
“I quit smoking, so I buy $2 in lottery tickets a week in place of cigarettes,” he shared. “I just put the tickets away.”
He checked this one in the nick of time. The ticket was set to expire January 12. When asked if he thought he waited a little too long, he didn’t think so, but admitted he would have cried and died if he hadn’t made that deadline.
Once he knew what he had, his wife didn’t want him hanging onto the ticket any longer. “He’s known to ask me where he left his keys, and I didn’t want him asking me where he left that ticket,” she said.
The winner, who did not want to release his name, matched all five white ball numbers drawn in the July 16, Mega Millions® (2 - 15 - 18 - 20 - 39 MB: 34) drawing.
He plans to put the money aside.
Had the winner purchased Megaplier® for an additional $1, his $250,000 winnings would have been multiplied to $1 million. “I didn’t add it because I’m not greedy,” he said. His wife told him from now on he should spend the extra buck.
For selling the ticket, Kent’s Korner #27 in Aiken received $2,500. Every retailer that sells a claimed ticket of $10,000 or more earns a 1 percent retailer commission, capped at $50,000.
Turns out, the Mega Millions® winner has a strict system he sticks to. He saves his tickets. He accumulates a stack in an envelope, about 40 tickets this time, and when he’s ready checks them all at once.
“I quit smoking, so I buy $2 in lottery tickets a week in place of cigarettes,” he shared. “I just put the tickets away.”
He checked this one in the nick of time. The ticket was set to expire January 12. When asked if he thought he waited a little too long, he didn’t think so, but admitted he would have cried and died if he hadn’t made that deadline.
Once he knew what he had, his wife didn’t want him hanging onto the ticket any longer. “He’s known to ask me where he left his keys, and I didn’t want him asking me where he left that ticket,” she said.
The winner, who did not want to release his name, matched all five white ball numbers drawn in the July 16, Mega Millions® (2 - 15 - 18 - 20 - 39 MB: 34) drawing.
He plans to put the money aside.
Had the winner purchased Megaplier® for an additional $1, his $250,000 winnings would have been multiplied to $1 million. “I didn’t add it because I’m not greedy,” he said. His wife told him from now on he should spend the extra buck.
For selling the ticket, Kent’s Korner #27 in Aiken received $2,500. Every retailer that sells a claimed ticket of $10,000 or more earns a 1 percent retailer commission, capped at $50,000.
1459