Winning as soon as he's old enough to play the lottery
By Kate Northrop
TURLOCK, Calif. — A California man won a $1 million prize the same day he became old enough to play the lottery.
Plenty of people celebrate the milestone of turning 18 years old by playing the lottery, but it's not every day that someone manages to win the lottery the same day they're of legal age to play.
Kaleb Hang's grandmother was excited for him to finally try his luck at the lottery and gifted him a scratch-off for his 18th birthday. Fittingly, the ticket she gave him belonged to the $10 "The Perfect Gift" game and held true to its namesake.
"My mom was driving me to go fishing, and on the way, I scratched it," Hang told the California Lottery. "We had to pull over. It was a million dollars, and I didn't even have an ID yet! We turned around and went home because I had to get an ID before I could even claim the ticket."
The "perfect gift" indeed, Hang ended up winning the sixth $1 million top prize in the game.
"I'm pretty stoked!" he exclaimed. "I certainly wasn't expecting it."
The birthday winnings came just in time for his next big steps in life as he prepares to head off to school. He says he'll put the money toward college and use it to invest in his future.
Heng's grandmother purchased the winning ticket at an Oasis Market in Turlock.
Currently, there are five out of 12 top prizes of $1 million left to claim in "The Perfect Gift," as well as nine out of 25 second-tier prizes of $20,000 and eight out of 21 third-tier prizes of $10,000.
Guess he really got the hang of it!
OK.
It's not fair!!!!!
Not Fair!!!!!
I've been playing for 40 years!!!!!
This wet behind the ears punk wins a million bucks the first time he plays?!?!?
HA HA!!!!!!
Happy Birthday and congrats Kaleb!
Awww happy birthday. If he's smart he can invest that well.
Congrats Kaleb, enjoy.
Great that he realizes he needs that degree. That extra 4 years of maturity will help him with keeping and investing that money.
Years ago, I used to work with a pair of brothers in the tech department. Their grandfather was fairly well off. When the older brother graduated from college, his grandfather gave him $40,000 toward his college education. He went to Penn State and graduated with a major in psychology and a minor in philosophy. Then found out that a 4 year degree in psychology was not sufficient to find a good position. You need a masters to get a good job in the field. The younger brother graduated from high school and the grandfather made him the same offer of $40,000. He told the grandfather that he really didn't see the need for college. Instead, he wanted to teach himself how to invest, then invest that $40,000 into a portfolio. After proving he was serious about it, the younger son got the grandfather to agree. Within 4 years, he had built the original 40k into a portfolio that, according to the older brother, was large enough that he need never work again if he didn't want to.
The point of the story is that it's important to know what you want, believe in yourself, and it helps to have rich grandpa. Or, as in Kaleb's case, a very lucky grandma.
That's 1 town over from me.
Congrats!