California store owner sues customer for half of $1M lottery prize

Comment #58

Goteki54 — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 18:38:21 GMT

All she had to do and this goes for any lottery player. Simple rule to play by

DON'T PROMISE ANYONE ANY MONEY IF YOU WIN, PERIOD!! DON'T PROMISE ANYONE ANY MONEY IF YOU WIN, PERIOD!! DON'T PROMISE ANYONE ANY MONEY IF YOU WIN, PERIOD!! DON'T PROMISE ANYONE ANY MONEY IF YOU WIN, PERIOD

Comment #57

BellasBMWLucki — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 18:20:20 GMT

If you're signing an agreement,to share i.e.but not limited to:

Lawsuits;lottery etc.,signature is valid and not under a type of duress et.al, it is valid.

Or at least multiple cases prove and support wholly such in cali,to east coast.

I think the man will win,with his lawyer,and the lady is quite obtuse for doing this.

What an idiot.But a 'deal is a deal,simple as that,as one caselaw adage, in writing that is.

Unless also she didn't know what she was signing with him.But i think... [ More ]

Comment #56

Shelby Mustang — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 13:55:10 GMT

No I dont think they need to re-word their contract with retailers. Im sure they have things in place that would void their contract with the retailers when they pull things like this. The commission's lawyer's probably will state some moral's clause and that retailer would lose his liscense anyway. Now the state prosecutor's office needs to probably do more than the lottery commission in this case. Losing the right to sell lottery tickets should be the last thing this particular retailer should... [ More ]

Comment #55

noise-gate — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 03:24:46 GMT

She admitted to offering him $50,000- this guy added a 3 in front of the 50,000 that is what is being fought about here. Who in their right mind gives a total stranger, in this case a retailer HALF your winnings? His trying to say that it is her pattern to give in 50% sums to total strangers, as though her 4 children don't need it, which is why he said that she did not give him $100.00 of her original win of a Grand. He said she gave him $500.00.This guy lies lies like a dog.

l just hope that... [ More ]

Comment #54

Artist77 — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 21:06:37 GMT

The state lottery is equally at fault here besides the crooked store owner. The state lottery needs to word the contract with the various retailers to limit their role to selling tickets and cashing winners and any other sort of lottery transactions with a customer (advancing money, having them sign anything, etc.) would be in violation of their written lottery retailer agreement. Then if a store owner tries this again, you cannot enforce an illegal act (in violation of their contract).

Comment #53

Scratch$ — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 23:46:34 GMT

Lottery retailers should be treated the same way by law that lottery employees are. They shouldn't be able to receive any lottery prize money whatsoever.

Comment #52

eddessaknight — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 23:37:05 GMT

TOTALLY, things are rarely what they seem

Comment #51

uprrman — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:07:49 GMT

total bull s--t

Comment #50

Teddi — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 14:39:56 GMT

We've seen stories like this so many times that I feel it's high time the lottery vendor rules get changed. The owner of any establishment selling lottery tickets should be prohibited from making lottery claims. It should be enough that they are awarded a percentage of a winning ticket amount. They should not be allowed to purchase tickets, nor should they be allowed to make a claim on a customer's ticket. Contract or not. I am sick and tired of hearing about these shopkeepers taking advantage o... [ More ]

Comment #49

Technut — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 13:55:41 GMT

I think this is crazy and since this thief thinks he deserves this then i say she should also get half of his store commission for selling the ticket as well.

Comment #48

Artist77 — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 11:51:52 GMT

I agree. After reading this, if anyone who sold me a ticket even joked about getting part of my money if I won, I would tell them off. Also, always read anything someone asks you to sign.

Comment #47

myturn — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 09:38:01 GMT

This behaviour is totally unacceptable. The lottery should cancel this agency.

Comment #46

Stack47 — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 04:12:42 GMT

Not a fan of the lady going public with comments.

There has to be a reason why the judge froze part of the assets and she did say something about giving him $50,000. Compare that to a Florida judge.

Comment #45

JoeBigLotto — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 22:56:32 GMT

Freezing the assets is normal procedure. The judge and lawyers will get money and publicity .They will listen to the crap this retail thief has to say b4 putting final nails to his cof... You see. Everyday this retailers are coming up with new tricks to still customer lotto money. Talk to all his customer and check how many winning tickets him and his relatives have cashed and you see a pattern if behaviour. They are not relatives or married they met at his store where he should have been ban fr... [ More ]

Comment #44

TheGameGrl — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 20:16:30 GMT

We are talking California Law, there is that lunacy to contend with.

The Judge freezing the assets, says it will move forward to trial.

Anyone know if both persons were given exact executed copies of the contract?

Not a fan of the lady going public with comments. She should have been warned to neither admit or comment during trial time.

As a lawyer said once, you can't get in trouble for what you do not say.

Comment #43

JoeBigLotto — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 17:00:03 GMT

Both will not loss the store owner will loss all the glory and new custormers looking for good luck .if they hear what he did to last lucky customer they will all say hell no forget that guy .

Comment #42

CDanaT — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 12:29:18 GMT

Red, I will respectfully disagree with you on the going to court. The whole thing is a cluster f**k from the get-go...this one said, this one heard, this one promised, this one signed.....while we can't fix stupid...let the courts address it, both will be losers of some sort, both are paying Atty fees court costs....and after this mess is all said and done???

Guess what ?? We will have the same thing happen again in another state/location because people don't take the time to educate themselv... [ More ]

Comment #41

nanaimo — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 11:15:09 GMT

similar story happened to me when i bought a $10 dollar scratch and win ticket and gave the clerk a $20 dollar bill,immediately the clerk said if you win half is mine and then he gave me $10 dollar change back to me. i refused to take ten dollars back and i said you have short changed me,clerk said the cost of ticket is 10 dollars and you gave me 20 dollars and i give you back 10 dollars,then i said NO,you owe me 15 dollars he said WHY, i explained him if you want to have half of my winning then... [ More ]

Comment #40

RedStang — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 06:12:27 GMT

There's no reason for this to go to court. First you put the clerk in a lobster trap because he'll do it again to someone else, then they should put the money in a trust for the kids so no other low life can try to scam her later.

Comment #39

MonEl — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 05:36:29 GMT

I think that neither him nor her are telling the whole truth.

But I do think that she owes him nothing, not a penny.

Comment #38

RJOh — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 04:54:11 GMT

Simply saying no isn't rude, it's telling them where to go that's rude but it make the point clear enough that you're not likely to be asked again.

Comment #37

Stack47 — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 04:46:20 GMT

When the jackpots get high, I try to stay away from the people who want to form pools because I don't want them to think I'm rude when I say no .

Comment #36

waltoy — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 01:48:56 GMT

Should be a law for some of these store owners, always trying to steal from

people. We play year round sometimes we win nothing, and when we do get a good win they

want half. He already go his 1% take that and be happy.

Comment #35

Droptop6969 — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 00:34:11 GMT

If a cashier asked me how much he would get. I would say All the losers i've purchased here. You're up about 500+ so NOTHING

Comment #34

noise-gate — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 22:38:42 GMT

Before they deport this guy V let him serve some time in General Population. . Far too many of these lowlifes think that having a Green Card entitled them to pull all sorts of crap get away with it.l am surprised that the Judge did what he did,makes no sense . Maybe it was on a Friday and he wanted to get out of the city ASAP to Tahoe on a blind date. It's a 3-4 hour drive..

Comment #33

VenomV12 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 22:18:34 GMT

Rereading this story it seems that not only should this case be immediately thrown out, I think the Feds need to get involved and arrest this man. He made this woman sign that paper under the pretenses that she needed to do so to get the prize, he clearly had this ready to go and has probably done this before. They need to shut his store down and if applicable, deport him.

Comment #32

RJOh — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:18:12 GMT

When someone asks me for money for doing nothing even relatives I tell them to go to hell , this is just another story that supports my position. It may be rude but rude people need to be treated rudely.

Comment #31

TNPATL — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:14:31 GMT

The store owner is being GREEDY, but on the other hand she should NOT have signed a single thing. He knew what he was doing when he had her sign that paper.

So basically she may have to suck it up and hand over those funds.

Comment #30

Stack47 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 21:03:45 GMT

Which state lottery sells scratch-off subscriptions

Comment #29

haymaker — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:54:09 GMT

dr65 and I'll go you one better,

the winner should have a say in weather or not the store gets to collect the 1/2 of 1% or whatever the store gets when they sell a winner.

Then ticket buyers would be treated w/ much more respect.

Yea right, like that'll ever happen.

Comment #28

aquar — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:23:27 GMT

i wouldn't give him shyt.............. sorry clerk.

Comment #27

myturn — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 20:16:18 GMT

I never buy tickets in stores, I only play by subscription. This story supports ny position.

Comment #26

dr65 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:49:28 GMT

Awful.

I can picture the opportunistic jerk. At the risk of sounding very bad here, I do not like Indian retailers. They run

these smoke shops and some of them are very pushy. They have no modesty when it comes to statements like

You'll be splitting with me if you win, right? or I get half of what you win on that ticket, right? or If you win, I get

some, right? Selling tickets doesn't put you in a position to go 1/2 and 1/2 on what anyone buys from your shop.

It's the buyer's tick... [ More ]

Comment #25

sweetie7398 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:13:24 GMT

Comment #24

Ron5995 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 19:11:15 GMT

All the more reason to be wary buying lottery tickets from small independents, in particular, mom pop owned convenience stores. I buy and cash most all my tickets, including instants, from self-service terminals located in large, chain owned businesses, such as Wawa, Weis, and Giant Foods. Any winner over $2,500 (biggest I ever get are $1,000; still hoping to hit big someday), I'd claim directly at lottery headquarters.

On a related note, this lawsuit brings to mind the risk of playing instan... [ More ]

Comment #23

mypiemaster — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:40:54 GMT

Something really stinks here. Real fishy deal. I hope she did not quit her $14.20/hr job. The lawyers are going to be smiling all the way to the bank. Fools.

Comment #22

Gleno — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:38:30 GMT

A Sad lesson to learn.

Never make written or oral statements to pay a lottery retailer or runner (someone who offers to buy the ticket(s) for you for a fee), in the event you hit a big jackpot.

Comment #21

JoeBigLotto — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 18:01:08 GMT

I know the best way to catch this clerk thief. I think he had similar agreements with all his customers this is not his only rip off he is a full time lotto thief and knows all the loop holes so set up 800 number for more victims to call and nail his a..

Comment #20

Teddi — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:57:30 GMT

Until someone can explain to me (with a logical and convincing argument) why this shop owner would be buying a perfect stranger tickets, for her to split with him, I don't care what she signed, he would not be getting a dime. They aren't related, they aren't friends, they aren't coworkers. Their relationship seems to only be that he sells tickets and she's generous and superstitious. His argument is full of holes.

If they really had an agreement, why did he wait until after she won to have h... [ More ]

Comment #19

noise-gate — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:22:19 GMT

Suzy got it right.. A Dishonest Dirtbag

Comment #18

pickone4me — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:14:52 GMT

Is sharing money with someone another new way of winning the lottery

Comment #17

VenomV12 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:11:34 GMT

This is why you absolutely never ever ever make a promise of money to anyone, especially these snip s. This should honestly be thrown out of court.

This post has been automatically changed by the Lottery Post computer system to remove inappropriate content and/or spam.

Comment #16

mrbg — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:52:55 GMT

Wut u said

Comment #15

Suzy-Dittlenose — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:42:42 GMT

What a greedy, self-serving, unethical, dishonest dirt-bag this store owner is. This money belongs to the woman who bought the ticket, completely! This certainly sounds like a shake-down; an extortion attempt. I hope the courts rips this store owner a new one for his conduct. I have heard that gift offerings are revocable anytime and are not binding in anyway. This store owner should lose his lottery ticket selling license.

Comment #14

noise-gate — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:42:16 GMT

l concur- l see absolutely no reason why people who are forking over their own money should be entering an agreement with any store clerk/ owner over winnings. The Store did nothing but run YOUR numbers through the machine.Next we going to read that Restaurants want a fee for you to use their restroom if you not eating on property.

I hope the Judge sees the light and tosses this maniac's lawsuit out.

Comment #13

Guru101 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:36:23 GMT

I don't think the store owner is entitled to anything, even if Evangelina Reyes agreed to split any prize she won, for 2 reasons:

1 - The agreement at the time seemed to be more of a friendly gesture, which isn't legally enforceable. This wasn't the formation of a lottery pool so to speak. People make extravagant agreements all the time. It's kind of like if my dad asked me if I won the lottery if I would give him a million dollars and I said Sure , and then when I won, I'm not allowed to cha... [ More ]

Comment #12

Long Odds — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:29:03 GMT

When cashing tickets, I have had clerks and business owners ask what their share is; my answer was that your share was my money spent on losing tickets- and then I have stopped buying at those locations (I have tipped clerks at regular locations when cashing tickets and will spend an extra dollar to buy a clerk their own ticket before the drawing on a number I have a strong feeling about). I find it quite annoying when others act as if we're partners and I'm obligated to them if I hit.... [ More ]

Comment #11

hearsetrax — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 16:18:24 GMT

would love to see the lawyer's bill on this one

Comment #10

duckman — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:57:17 GMT

Frivolous lawsuit ... has no chance of getting anywhere unless there is more to the story than what we know.

Comment #9

dpoly1 — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:38:57 GMT

This is just plain crazy

Have the store owner arrested for extortion

Comment #8

JoeBigLotto — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:37:34 GMT

Store people are getting more crazy everyday .This is why you never scratch at the store when you buy go home or to your car so when you win big just drive away adios Amigo lol

Comment #7

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:29:39 GMT

If I played the lottery and lived in that area I would definitely never go to that store again.

Comment #6

noise-gate — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:51:26 GMT

l have purchased tickets at this place in the past. Its a hole in the wall and l have never seen a single customer in this store at any of the times that l have visited . You can stick a fork in me- l am done with this location.

Comment #5

atoz — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:37:11 GMT

Unless I read it wrong why would a store owner buy you 80 dollars worth of tickets but you must share half. He could of bought the tickets himself and kept it all. There's got to be more to the story...

I get tired of these different store owners say (and they are foreigners) how much did you win me today. I hate to be rude but I just do not say anything back to them...I hear different horror stories quite often.

Comment #4

dallascowboyfan — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:23:26 GMT

Drama.... Drama.... Drama .... Why on earth would anybody make a deal with a cashier ???? I don't know who to believe sounds like the cashier is shaking down people but if the customer made a deal she should honor it . The sad thing is the lawyers will end up with a lot of the money .

Comment #3

ThatScaryChick — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 14:19:05 GMT

Well this is going to be messy.

Comment #2

Lynn-Lynn — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:46:55 GMT

If he give her the tickets she need to suck it up and pay the man.Cause now she about to give some to a lawyer. Congratulations anyway

Comment #1

Original Bey — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:46:10 GMT

For the love of Ella! Stop making promises on money you haven't won yet. You bought the ticket. You positioned yourself in the right place at the right time and purchased the right scratch off for the win.

The only thing I am signing is my ticket and paperwork at the official lottery headquarters in the presence of my attorney.

I do wonder though if investigations will soon reveal that this store owner somehow figured out how to determine the winning scratch offs and partnered wi... [ More ]

California store owner sues customer for half of $1M lottery prize

Lottery Post — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 13:30:37 GMT

Assembly line worker Evangelina Reyes had big plans for the $1 million she won earlier this year in the California Lottery's Emerald 10 scratch-off game. But then the owner of the Milpitas liquor store where she bought the winning ticket slapped her with a lawsuit, claiming she'd signed a handwritten contract guaranteeing him half the prize.

Now, instead of dipping into the money for a family vacation in Hawaii and serenely banking the rest for early retirement, the 53-year-old mother of five... [ More ]