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California Man Wins $10 Million Moments After Buying $1,000 Winning Lottery Ticket

By John Houck
Published on: 09:53 PST, Dec 2, 2015

Everyone dreams of getting the winning lottery ticket that will change their life. In a double stroke of luck for one California man, that dream recently become a reality.

Rodney Meadows was out running errands in Modesto, California, when he walked into a convenience store and decided to test his luck on some scratch-off lottery tickets. According to a press release from California Lottery officials, Meadows bought several 30th Anniversary California lottery tickets at the Fast Mart convenience store.

One ticket revealed he had won $1,000.

Just moments after, Meadows’ life was about to change, in a big way. Many would have taken the $1,000 from the winning lottery ticket and started thinking of ways to spend the prize money.

However, the Fast Mart customer decided to let the gambler inside him shine and “let it ride.” He took part of the money and bought the last three scratch-off tickets in the row.

One of newly-purchased tickets was revealed to be a $10 million prize winner and on November 23, Meadows became a millionaire.

After realizing the amount of the winning lottery ticket, Meadows had to do a double-check.

“First off, I could not believe it,” Meadows told lottery officials. “I had to ask the clerk at the store and he said, ‘You better check it again on the machine.'”

Fast Mart verified that the machine was correct and the ticket was worth $10 million. For selling the winning lottery ticket, Fast Mart will receive a $50,000 bonus, which they plan to re-invest into the store.

The convenience store where the winning lottery ticket was purchased is known among the locals as a hot spot. It’s so hot that the California state lottery awarded the title of “Lucky Retailer” to the store for the last two years in a row.

According to a store manager, Fast Mart regularly sells winning lottery tickets, but never one this big. Jesse Singh told The Guardian that customers typically win $400 to $500 every day, while some have won up to $30,000 in the past.

Earlier the very same day that Meadows purchased his two winning lottery tickets, a different customer won $2,000.

Fast Mart customer, Joseph Transcoso, spoke with local TV station, KCRA, about Meadows having the winning lottery ticket.

“I said to [Meadows], ‘I knew you were going to do it.’ He plays compulsively every day. It couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”

In a related Inquisitr report, another California man had a double stroke of luck back in August. Hubert Tang of San Francisco happened to find $20 on the ground outside San Francisco International Airport.

Deciding to see how far he can take his new-found fortune, Tang went and purchased a lottery ticket with the money. As it turned out, that fateful decision changed Tang’s life when the ticket proved to be a $1 million winner.

Apparently, some winners do not realize they hold a winning lottery ticket.

In a press release on the California state lottery website, they are currently seeking the winner of a $671,089 Powerball jackpot. The ticket was purchased in Sacramento County on September 23 and no one has yet come forward to claim it. Until the prize is claimed, lottery officials have no way of knowing who the winner is.

The unknown winner still has time to claim the prize, but not much. The lottery has a 180-day window to claim prizes, after which they expire and go to help California public schools.

Interestingly, the California lottery created 100 new millionaires in fiscal year 2014-15. Thanks to a timely twist of fate, Rodney Meadows is now a member of that elite club.

Meadows says he buys lottery tickets four to five times a week. “I’ve been playing the California Lottery since day one,” he told lottery officials. He has not yet decided what to do with the winnings.

[Image via Icatnews/Shutterstock]

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