TACOMA, Wash. — Washington Lottery officials say a man claimed a $2.5 million lottery ticket at a convenience store in Tacoma on Dec. 13.
The store where he bought it from received a 1% bonus.
"He came in and he goes, I got a $20 bill I want to break," said Garry's owner, Garry Gill. "A lot of convenience stores, we don't like to open our till unless we have to just for security purposes, so he comes in saying, hey, I want to break a 20, and Jeet here goes sure, here's a ticket. So, basically the whole initiative to the ticket was just to break a $20 bill."
According to Lottery officials, the winner wanted to remain anonymous. They say he took the prize as a lump sum after playing the "Lotto" game, where players choose two sets of numbers and a jackpot starting at $1 million. The pot grows until someone wins. To win the jackpot, a player must match their ticket to all six numbers drawn.
"A lot of people think we're making a lot of money off the lottery system," Gill said. "We barely make a minimum [with it], which only covers the rent of the machines and paperwork and all that stuff. For this one, it turned out to be phenomenal."
The retailer will receive a $25,000 prize, which Gill says he plans to share with his workers and use for community turkey and gift giveaways.
"We try to support our community because this community supported us," Gill said. "This is your corner store where people come and talk. We have people who will come in 20 minutes just to talk. I learned lots of stuff from there, I made more friends than I did in college or school."
Jeet Singh cashed the winning ticket and said it was a moment he won't forget.
"He comes here to check his ticket when he scanned his ticket over there, and he was in doubt," Singh said. "He comes over here, can you check it? I say OK, I can check it. When I scanned it, it makes a noise, a voucher comes out; it says, congratulations, you have hit the jackpot - $2.5 million - I can't believe that. I been working seven years in convenience stores, it never happened to me before like that."
Gill said they can't wait to put a banner up at their store and hope another one of their much-loved regulars will be a winner.