Lottery fan isn't just a "little" -stitious, he's "super" -stitious
By Kate Northrop
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A California man says he's the "King of Scratchers" after closely following a superstition that led to him winning a $5 million lottery prize in a scratch-off game.
Daniel Peramaki is the self-proclaimed "King of Scratchers," and he's crediting his determination and "rather quirky methods" for a $5 million win, the California Lottery said in a press release.
Peramaki has been vying for that big win for years now, and he's set some very specific rules for himself when it comes to playing the lottery. He was ecstatic when following those rules finally paid off after he found himself looking at a $5 million top prize-winning ticket on a $20 "Neon Cash Party" ticket.
"I thought, 'no way!'" he recalled to the California Lottery. "I honestly thought I scratched it wrong. I was in shock for probably the whole day. I didn't sleep that night."
He explained that he always tries to buy the seventh, eighth, and ninth ticket in a newly opened pack of $20 scratch-off tickets. He says he's seen plenty of good wins by doing this, but that this was the biggest prize he's ever won.
"I'm the king of the $20 scratchers," he shared. "I win a lot, but it's never been anything this big."
His winning ticket turned out to be number seven in the ticket roll. Initially, it didn't look like the ticket was going to win anything since he scratched 24 out of the 25 play spots without seeing a prize. It was on the 25th and final play spot that he revealed a $5 million top prize.
Peramaki also has another rule — he doesn't scratch his tickets immediately after buying them.
"I'm very superstitious," he explained. "If I scratch them right away, it's a loser. I usually buy them, put them in my pocket, and wait. I didn't scratch this one until midnight."
When he visited Lottery headquarters in Sacramento, he claimed his prize as a $2.9 million lump sum and remarked that it's a life-changing amount of money.
"I showed someone at work the $5,000,000," Peramaki continued. "He said, 'Oh congrats, five thousand,' and I said, 'That's a comma, not a decimal!'"
For selling the winning ticket, Star Liquor on South State College Boulevard in Anaheim receives a $25,000 bonus from the Lottery.
As of now, there are four out of seven top prizes of $5 million remaining in the $20 "Neon Cash Party" game. There are also seven out of 14 second-tier prizes of $100,000 and 76 out of 145 third-tier prizes of $10,000 left to claim.
The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.04.
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day. I didn't sleep that night."
He explained that he always tries to buy the seventh, eighth, and ninth ticket in a newly opened pack of $20 scratch-off tickets. He says he's seen plenty of good wins by doing this, but that this was the biggest prize he's ever won.
"I'm the king of the $20 scratchers," he shared. "I win a lot, but it's never been anything this big.
I wonder how he knew that the roll was down to the 7th, 8th and 9th ticket every time he played. Sound like he and the store clerk had something going on.
Anyway Congratulations on the big win 💰💰
🤨 anything is possible
There is a number at the lower right of the tickets indicating the number of the ticket from the pack. So his choices would be ticket # 007,-008,-or 009. But what if they start selling the tickets from the back of the pack?Do you choose # 494---493---or 492?
Interesting method, but I'm happy all the same for him.
I hope he enjoys his winnings.
Also a $20M scratch off winner this month in the same city. Anaheim (714) seems to be the lucky city for the month. Congrats to them all.
When driving down the interstate, I will be counting gas stations, one, two, three ....... and I will buy my PB and MM QP in the 13th gas station.
I will be back after ten years and let y'all know how it's been.
Congratulations to the winner.
Once more, luck is being confused with something else, but won't be the one to dampen a good story 🤣
I asked this question a while back about buying certain numbered scratchers in a roll . I don't play scratchers but a neighbor was gifted one, won $ and asked me about buying a certain numbered ticket in a roll. The consensus was that one could not do this. So I am curious here as well.
So if there is a new roll put out there you'd have to have a great relationship with them if you think they're going to skip tickets up to 007, etc. Those type of individuals definitely won't be buying from a self serve lottery machine. I don't buy scratchers but noticed when the roll is low it'll say two tickets left (sometimes).
Then he would buy #9, #8, #7. He had to wait until those ticket numbers were available, unless CA allows them to be sold out of order.
When I sold lottery tix, some people would ask what ticket number was next. But I could not sell them out of order.
Yeah, I thought it was strange that the guy says he only buys certain numbers in a new pack of scratch offs. How is this possible unless he is friends with the store clerk? I never thought a clerk was allowed to ramble through scratch offs just to get a specific number for a customer. All the stores I go in with scratch offs on a rack or holder, the clerk tears off the next ticket on the roll, otherwise there would be loose tickets all over the place. I would never buy a loose ticket. Maybe this is a California thing, otherwise there is something fishy going on there.
Another rule of his is he doesn't scratch the tickets right away. " If I scratch them right away they are losers" So he waited until midnight. As if by waiting the result is going to change magically in his favour. What a loonie
What I guestion is how he is able to pick and choose the number of the scratch off ticket he wants from the new pack of tickets. He must be friends with the clerk who rummages through the tickets tearing them apart so the guy can have a certain number. Once this is done WHO buys the loose tickets? In most stores the clerk is not allowed to rummage through the pack like that, they have to give the customer the next ticket on the roll. There is something fishy going on there.
From most of your comments on how the game is played, and if those rules apply to the select game and CA in general, then it looks like Daniel just put the store clerk in lots of trouble 🤔🤔🤔
I wonder if his statement about buying certain numbered scratchers was examined by the state lottery. If I were a lottery official and a winner claimed to be friendly with a clerk who allowed him to pick certain scratchers out of order (a possible scenario), I would wonder what other lottery favors were done. Not keeping a routine arms length transaction is concerning. But they paid him.