"The clerk could have picked a different game, but he didn't. He grabbed a winner."
By Kate Northrop
VISALIA, Calif. — A California man didn't know which scratch-off lottery ticket to buy, but its thanks to the clerk's selection that he walked out the store holding a ticket worth $10 million.
Brent Young didn't have much of a preference for which lottery ticket he wanted to buy, so he had the clerk pick out a game for him. Suddenly, it mattered a whole lot more — the ticket selected for him by the cashier ended up being a winner for a whopping $10 million top prize.
There are more than two dozen scratch-off games offered by the California Lottery at any given time, so it might naturally be difficult for some players to decide on just one.
Young found himself in that situation when he walked into Prince Food &Gas on West Walnut Avenue in Visalia, so he asked the cashier behind the counter for help.
"I was like, just pick whichever one; I didn't care," Young recalled.
The clerk picked out a ticket from the $30 instant game, "California 200X."
The player paid for his gas and the lottery ticket and got to work scratching. He was about halfway through when one of his numbers matched the winning numbers on the side of the ticket. There was no mistaking it - printed in bold font was a $10,000,000 prize amount.
"When I saw all those zeros, I was like, 'No way, this doesn't happen to people like me,'" he told the Lottery. "It's crazy. Out of all those options, the clerk could have picked a different game, but he didn't. He grabbed a winner."
To top it off, Young was amazed that an unusual circumstance brought him to this specific retailer. He normally fills up on gas and buys lottery tickets at another gas station, but it was closed that day, so he had stopped at Prince Food & Gas instead.
"It's almost like God's intervention," Young said. "I didn't have a specific ticket I was going to buy, so I let someone else decide. I had no choice but to go to Prince's. My usual stop was closed. If it had been open, none of this probably would have happened."
The lucky winner opted for the lump sum prize amount of $5.8 million after federal taxes, and the owner of Prince Food & Gas also collected a $50,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
Following Young's top prize win, four out of nine top prizes of $10 million remain in the $30 "California 200X" game. There are also nine out of 18 second-tier prizes of $750,000 and 40 out of 92 third-tier prizes of $50,000 remaining. The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 2.71.
(Click to display full-size in gallery)
Great story but we all want to know how much he tipped the clerk for this. This is why I would never ask for a quick pick. The timing of a clerks fingers on a machine is what you are basing your selection of numbers on. It is different with a scratch ticket though. They are up there on the wall and it does not matter how long it would take him to select one for you. Having the clerk select the right ticket deserves a far larger tip since he is making a decision for you rather than hesitating with a button on a machine.
My eyes were scanning the article looking for just that, lol.
We just got the feel good story and how the universe conspired to get him a winner, but what is important is the giving back - I would have taken the 5M and told the cashier, here's 800K for you, but the taxes are on you as well.
I hope the winner did not give the cashier $100.
Well, give the winner a chance to cash the ticket first I suppose is the thing to do here. We do though need a follow up on this story regarding how much he tipped. 800k is a little excessive actually. The winner is not going to get 5.8 million after taxes. They are going to get 5.8 million and then pay the taxes since they took the lump sum. Ballpark around 3 million. The clerk doesn't deserve 30% or so. More like 5% would be fair.
I thought they had taken all the federal taxes on the 10M since Cal does not pay state taxes on lotto.
But if I bagged 5.8M after all taxes and the cashier picked the ticket for me (especially a scratch game and not the QP tickets) , I wouldn't think twice about giving them 800K.
It was purely the clerk's choice that won.
How about that lottery game where 1st prize is 100 Grand and 2nd prize is 50 grand and 3rd prize is 25 grand and 4th prize is you owe the lottery 25 gs, 5th you owe the lottery 50 gs, and 6th you owe the lottery 100 gs.
The kicker is that the 1st three prize winners have a year to cash in their ticket but, 4 thru 6 have two weeks to pay their prize to the lottery.
Well good old generous you. You probably get more in California not familiar with the exact tax law there but still 800k just for that seems excessive to me. Maybe if it was a Power Ball jackpot but not this somewhat rather modest amount. Not sneering at 3 or 3.5 million those are the ones I play for in state lotteries but giving the clerk 25% would have this winners family up in arms I would think.
If it was me I would give the clerk a cool 10,000.00 since the store is rewarded as well for selling a winning ticket. Then management can decide whether to share with the employee as well.
She deserves a Million. That's what I would do. Especially since his windfall came solely from her choice.
I guess you have no family. They would disown you for giving her that much.
Since the clerk choose the ticket for me at my request I would tip nicely, it was a life changing amount. Your are going to pay 37% in Taxes in total based only on the 5.8 Million which equates to 3,654,000.00 after all the Federal Tax is paid. I would Tip the clerk 654,000.00 they will be responsible for any Taxes from that, it removes me from Tax Fraud allegations. California is very expensive so I figure 654 Thousand is not a whole lot in that State but better than zero. The store that received the 50 Thousand bonus will not be sharing other than the manager and they may get just maybe 5,000.00 minus Taxes, this is based on my actual real life experience.
P.U. !!!
Who 'cut the cheese' on this board???
Don't look at me ..... You know who you are.
Lottery Lottery Lottery
IDK enough about IRS regulations as far as a gift tax or whatever it is called. That would be the max I'd give the clerk just to be safe and stay under the IRS radar.
The moment you win 10M - you are on the IRS radar like no one's business 😁😁😁
Maybe, just maybe, it would benefit those of us who would prefer not to be audited if we were to win a prize of $9,999,999 or less?