A homeless man from California won a whopping $1 million jackpot prize just from a lottery scratch ticket. The man from San Luis Obispo purchased the life-changing winning ticket from Sandy's Deli-Liquor.
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Sandy's manager, Wilson Samaan, spoke with KSBY about how the homeless man learned of his winnings. "He came to the store, he scratched it and is like, 'Oh, my god. Is that real? Wilson, can you come and take a look?'" said Samaan. The winner had also been a recurring customer of his shop, which he'd worked at since 2013.
$1 Million Lottery From Scratch Ticket Goes To Homeless Man
I'm like, 'Let me see,' so I grabbed the ticket out of his hand went to the machine over there," Samaan continued. "He's like, 'Man, I'm not homeless anymore!' I'm like, 'Man, you hit the jackpot.' He's like, '$100,000' and I'm like, 'No, bro. That's $1 million. Congrats brother,' so, and we gave each other a high five."
Soon after winning the scratch ticket, Samaan helped the man earn his big prize. "I drove him to Fresno I think the next day, or Wednesday, because he's like, 'Do I want to send it in the mail?' And I told him, 'That's a million-dollar ticket. No, I will drive you,'" he explained.
Before someone can obtain their winnings from a lottery ticket, there are things they must do. This is according to a CA State Lottery spokesperson who spoke with the outlet. "With a million-dollar ticket like this, the person who comes forward can expect a very thorough vetting process," said spokesperson Carolyn Becker.
"As you can imagine, we give away a lot of prize money at the CA lottery, and we are happy to do it, but we want to make sure we are giving it to the right person." This process may take as little as a few weeks to as much as a couple of months.
To ensure that the winner owes the state any money, among other things, they must also interview them. "We process over 10,000 winning claims a month, so that's part of why it takes a little bit of time," Becker explained.
The man declined to do an on-camera interview, which is probably the smart thing to do if you win any jackpot. Otherwise, his life has certainly changed drastically and for the better since winning the scratch ticket.
He told the outlet that he wants to make a down payment on a home on the Central Coast. The winner also wants to purchase a car before saving the rest and investing it.
