Figure the odds: Three winning lottery tickets — one of them for $1 million — all in the same day.
Michael Warner, 61, of Grayson, Georgia, won the big prize playing the Georgia Lottery instant game World Class Millions, and topped off his winnings with $500 from another instant game, Extreme Green, and $20 from a third lottery ticket.
"I could hardly breathe," said the retired Lucent Technologies employee. "I was just at the right place at the right time."
On the afternoon of April 19, Warner, a regular Fantasy 5 player, said he went to the Shell Food Store #2 at 1984 Highway 78 in Snellville.
Warner said he bought four tickets. The first netted him $20. The second one was the big one.
"I started seeing zeroes, and thought, 'Holy Cow,'" Warner said. "I kept seeing zeroes, then I finally saw the 1."
He said he asked another customer, to double check what he was seeing.
"I grabbed a lady by the arms, and said to her, can you look at this and tell me what I think this is?" Warner said. "She said, 'yes, you won a million dollars.'"
One of the other tickets garnered him a $500 prize.
Warner said he took the cash option on the million-dollar winning, which after taxes gave him just over $506,460, said Kimberly Lundy of the Georgia Lottery.
"It's a lot of money, but it's nothing that's going to be life changing," the grandfather of five said.
Warner said he and his wife are going to invest the money, and maybe use some to help his grandchildren.
"There's never a bad time to win money, but we don't feel comfortable putting the money back into the market," Warner said. "We've lost a lot of money in our Lucent 401(k).
"We are probably leaning at going the safe route — invest some of it in some Roths [IRA accounts], or the 529B [college savings accounts] for the grandbabies," he said.
The World Class Millions game is paid out in 20 annual installments (for the Extra Chance Drawing), worth $5 Million. Is there an annuity option for the regular scratch offs for this same game? (there are 6 prizes of $1M and 3 prizes of $5M).
Great story... I just have a hard time understanding why people ask others to inspect a ticket that wins a jackpot. Seriously, I really don't think I could trust anyone.
I think it may have been a "pinch me, I might be dreaming" moment.
Truer words were never spoken: "I was just at the right place at the right time!"
Congrats to the Warner's!
Not life changing? A 10,000 dollar win would be life changing for me now...
Wow, that store was paying out alot, the $500 & $20 hits would have made my day alone !!!
But if I did hit all three I would have handed the $20 winner to another player in the store just spread the wealth a little and make someone else's day
That amount of $ 500,000 definitedly would be life changing for me , especially with talks of RIFs (Reduction In Force) and widespread unemployment.
Georgia usually withholds 25% for federal taxes which would have left 750,000. I wonder, could he have requested the state take their taxes out now? I think it is 6 to 7%.
oh well, Congratulations to the winners.
Yes. The State deducts and the fed simultaneously INTIALLY dedicts 25% from all U.S.A. lottery gross wins (plus Fed takes additional 5% when winner documents win and submits their income tax form the following year).
A BIG congratulations to the joyful, three-time day winner!
Congratulations