Ohio store sells winning $106 million Mega Millions lottery ticket

Jun 6, 2005, 9:45 am (18 comments)

Mega Millions

Ohio has its fourth Mega Millions lottery winner, who will gross $106 million, or a $66,666,686 lump sum.

The Emery Road convenience store that sold the ticket will receive $100,000.

"I'll take the family on vacation," Ajay Patel, 35, owner of Emery Food Mart, said Saturday morning.

He and his wife, Asmita, 30, moved from India to the United States in 1987. They have surpassed the American Dream.

The Patels also sold a winning Super Lotto ticket in 1999 that brought them $5,000. And Ajay's brother-in-law sold Ohio's first winning Mega Millions ticket, for $162 million, at his South Euclid store in December 2003.

Lottery spokeswoman Mardele Cohen advises Friday's winner, who had not yet stepped forward by Saturday evening, to "have a long, cold drink of water and do some research. You'll need an attorney and tax and financial advice before you claim your prize. This is life-changing."

The winner has 180 days to cash in. Most do so anonymously, and most use the automated selection of numbers, as Friday's winner did.

As always, when there are more losers than winners, there are sad stories.

"Yesterday, I didn’t go next door," said James Mallory, lottery player. “I went some place else. And look what happened, I miss out. How can you have such bad luck? I can cry for the rest of my life.”

Ohio joined the multistate game in 2002. This month, California will become the 12th state to participate in the game.

The second Mega Millions win in Ohio, for $20 million, was in Dayton in March 2004. The third, for $52 million, was in Shaker Heights in September 2004.

Millionaire Triangle

Some Ohio residents feel that Cuyahoga County may be the luckiest place in all of the United States, and contains what they term the "millionaire triangle."

From South Euclid to Shaker Heights to Warrensville Heights, three stores within ten miles of each other have all sold a winning Mega Million lottery ticket.

In the last 18 months, the mega haul for the millionaire triangle netted $320 million.

"It’s sort of like, what, a triangle?" said Cohen.  "This is very unique."

Also strangely coincidental is the code word found in all the Ohio stores where a winning ticket was purchased.

"They all had the word 'food' in their name," said Cohen.

For Friday's Mega Millions drawing, there were only 220 Mega Million transactions at the Emery Food Mart in Warrensville Heights.

So if you know someone who bought a ticket there, it might pay to be nice to him or her.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

JAG331

Wow that's a lot of 6's.

Todd's avatarTodd

Yeah, and the winning numbers contained a 6.

Rip Snorter

Seems the Patel family ought to be buying a few tickets on their own hook.  Maybe it rubs off.

Jack

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

Wow that's a lot of 6's.

I Agree!

 

eerie!

MPJO

 

Somebody will probably write a book on this and end up being on

Oprah to talk about.......The Food CodesLurking

MIMIC

LOL..I live IN the "Millionaire Triangle." :D I live off of Kinsman and 116th Street...right inside the triangle. :)

MIMIC

And I live nearest to the one sold in Shaker Heights...I used to ride my bike down pass the store in the summer when I was younger. Nowadays, I drive the car pass it. :)

Rip Snorter

And I live nearest to the one sold in Shaker Heights...I used to ride my bike down pass the store in the summer when I was younger. Nowadays, I drive the car pass it. :)

I think in your shoes I might feel obliged to pause for a ticket or two as I drove by.  The Bermuda Triangle of Big Bucks, where Farraries vanish without a trace and winning numbers rain from the sky.  Hot diggedy.

Jack

Maverick's avatarMaverick

~ from article: The Emery Road convenience store that sold the ticket will receive $100,000. ~

 

Congrats to the store owner. No congrats to the MM jackpot winner cos it wasn't me LOL

diva67

honestly what would you do if you won so much money? it really is a life changing event, it can be very overwhelming

CASH Only

I won't know until it happens.

Rip Snorter

honestly what would you do if you won so much money? it really is a life changing event, it can be very overwhelming

diva67:

I doubt Jack Whittaker or Hollywood Henderson found it overwhelming.

For me, a new set of tires on the car wouldn't be overwhelming to me, but I'm not sure the old Trooper could handle all that tread-depth.  I think you might be right, that most people do find it overwhelming, though they don't recognize it for what it is until later.

What to do with all that money isn't the problem.  What NOT to do with it is.

Trying to get enough cocaine to make it go away probably isn't the best answer for most folks.

Jack

CASH Only

Both Whittaker and Henderson knew to choose cash.

Rip Snorter

Cash Only:

Might be so, though I doubt either of us knows about Henderson, unless you've bothered to chase it down.

But whether a  person chooses cash or not mightn't be the absolutel, pentultimatimisimo, solitary measure of how a man deals with unexpected events in his life.  Might be there are other considerations.  Getting into the position of having to make such a choice might even come into it.

Jack

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