SACRAMENTO – A San Mateo County man made a last-minute decision to buy a California Millionaire Scratchers ticket and it paid off handsomely.
Francisco Lopez was at the Pic N Pay Food and Liquor store in Glen Ellen. He made a decision at the cash register to add a $5 Scratchers ticket to his purchase. As he explained to California Lottery officials he knew instantly that he made the right decision. With a touch of wonder in his voice Lopez said, “I knew immediately. It felt great.”
Lopez, a resident of Menlo Park and a supervisor for a janitorial service, played California Millionaire, a popular Scratchers game designed to award 15 instant million-dollar prizes and five second-chance draws for $1 million prizes. Lopez is the fifth player to claim one of the 20 million-dollar prizes the game offers. He is the seventh California Lottery player this year to land a prize of at least $1 million.
Lopez said he plans to pay off his family’s bills and maybe consider buying his own business.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.