Former NFL player backs up ex-Circle K manager who tried to claim $12.8M Arizona Lottery jackpot

Comment #26

noise-gate — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 17:20:51 GMT

* You misinformed.

* Any unsold lottery tickets,whether they are winning tickets or not LEFT on Circle K's property BELONGS to Circle K.

* Robert shows up the following morning, looks through the pile of unsold tickets sees the winner decides he will purchase that ticket claim the jackpot. That's not following company policy.

* At the time of the drawing, Robert did NOT have the winning ticket in he's possession, it belonged to the store.

* I can't explain it any b... [ More ]

Comment #25

grwurston — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 11:12:56 GMT

What part of what I said was misinformation? Everything I said is in the stories about this.

Same article you quoted, The employee printed $85 in tickets, but the player paid for $60 worth of tickets from the stack and left, leaving behind a pile of unpurchased tickets.

https://www.lotterypost.com/news/359352 May 21

Arizona Lottery rules state that tickets generated by a player and refused by said player belong to the retailer who printed it, so long as the retailer does not manag... [ More ]

Comment #24

grwurston — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 10:10:00 GMT

and make sure the customer has enough money before printing the tickets.

Have you ever gone to a store to buy lottery tickets and have the clerk ask if you enough money to pay for the tickets? Or any other kind of store to purchase anything?

I haven't and I've been playing for decades.

Comment #23

noise-gate — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 06:42:49 GMT

* You spreading Misinformation.That's not me saying that, those are facts! How so?

* Check out this same story posted on LP dated Feb 26th 2026

Titled: Arizona lottery retailer employee sued after buying $12.8 million ticket knowing it was a winner.

* Paragraph 4 : One of tickets in that stack of leftover tickets at the store matched all six numbers to win the $12.8 million jackpot.

* Paragraph 5 : Circle K store manager Robert Gawlitza started work the FOLLOWING morning... [ More ]

Comment #22

Tucker Black — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 05:32:17 GMT

The employees are not going to buy unsold tickets after the drawing that are losers. They're only going to buy winners. Circle K didn't come up with that policy because they like collecting losing tickets. That policy is there to encourage the clerk to enter the numbers carefully and make sure the customer has enough money before printing the tickets.

It's not a coincidence he came in the next day and bought those unsold tickets. They're not really unsold because you can't sell a lottery tic... [ More ]

Comment #21

Powerball765 — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 04:17:28 GMT

if Am the Judge on this case l will divide it into four shares.

1. Goes to the guy that didn't have enough money to pay.

2. Goes to the lucky clerk that tried to buy a winning ticket.

3. Goes to circle K.

4. To be shared equally among all the workers at that circle k.

Case closed everyone should be happy because this was a complex Mess. With happy ending.

My Ai opinion lol

I hear you. Your Judge Judy solution is definitely a creative... [ More ]

Comment #20

Participant — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 02:55:44 GMT

On this value: .....and now he's kicking himself for it I have this to say:

The good or bad that can happen in the life of any person is completely a mathematical permutation a preprogrammed, pre-designed, preordained event.

While it may look like he is now kicking himself - the kicking himself is the pre-programmed event that must happen in his life and the path to make that permutation to be manifested is the event of causing the generation of lottery tickets that contain a winner th... [ More ]

Comment #19

grwurston — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 02:09:30 GMT

Actually in this case these were not mistake tickets. If a customer comes in and says I want 234 for $1 Straight on the Eve Pick 3 and the clerk types in 235, that's a mistake.

In this case the customer gave him $85 worth of play slips, but he only had $60 in his pocket. It's not the clerks fault that the guy didn't have enough $$ to pay for it. The clerk wouldn't know that until after he printed the tickets and told the guy, That will be $85 . The guy could have said, I'll come back with t... [ More ]

Comment #18

justadream — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:50:08 GMT

I may be wrong but I don't think he was the one that printed the ticket.

Comment #17

grwurston — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:42:10 GMT

Circle K has a policy that the employees must purchase unsold tickets with their own money. He did that. Gawlitza bought it along with the other tickets that were left there after he clocked out. They all belong to him. Why? Because every lottery ticket says on the reverse side: This lottery ticket is a bearer instrument.

If another customer had bought the tickets before Gawlitza did then they would have belonged to that customer.

In one of the other articles about this it said:

A... [ More ]

Comment #16

Participant — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:32:11 GMT

Not exactly. There is a natural force that is at play in this matter. This force will ultimately deliver this prize to the rightful owner(s). In the meantime Earth dwellers are entertained by the Cosmos itself.

Remember Gawlitza would have to have explained to the lottery when he bought the winning ticket at the store that he worked for, and the video would not match who was at the counter at the time that the ticket was printed.

Gawlitza bought a single winning ticket on the day after t... [ More ]

Comment #15

Tony Numbers — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 23:19:03 GMT

The company policy that tickets printed by mistake are to be purchased by the employee

Comment #14

noise-gate — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 20:03:33 GMT

* No, he didn't follow company policies. If he did, he wouldn't be in the pickle he finds himself in. He knew exactly what he was doing when he purchased a winning ticket that was not picked up before the game was played. That unclaimed winning ticket remained on property overnight.

* The following day he comes across the unclaimed winning ticket purchased it with the intention of cashing it. Where in that story was he following company guidelines

Comment #13

Tony Numbers — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 14:19:58 GMT

Look at the leverage the corporation has, they got a judge to extend the expiration of the ticket. If this case reaches a jury trial, one thing in Gawlitzas favor is that he followed company policy and they might sympathyize with him

Comment #12

Participant — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:25:39 GMT

You are correct that at the time of the drawing the ticket belonged to Circle K. But it was no longer in the category of what can be sold, just like the shelves in the store cannot be sold.

Comment #11

GreyGreen — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:21:26 GMT

He bought it like protocol said to do for a printing mistake. Its his. End of story. Looks like Circle K is the greedy mofo.

Comment #10

Tucker Black — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 05:41:17 GMT

At the time of the drawing, the ticket belonged to Circle K. You can't legitimately claim you bought a ticket from another entity after the drawing.

Comment #9

Participant — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 03:21:16 GMT

The problem Gawlitza may have is that he was not the person that sold the mistake tickets. Since employees are required to buy mistake tickets Gawlitza has not earned a punishment - a.k.a. - buy the mistake tickets. And if he does, he has not earned the rights to keep them especially since the tickets contained a winner. Under most circumstances Gawlitza will not buy a loosing ticket. Gawlitza should be eliminated as a contester for the prize.

Comment #8

PrisonerSix — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 20:50:56 GMT

The way I see it, if he was required to purchase the ticket, it is his ticket so the prize money is his. If someone has to purchase these tickets and they win a smaller prize, say $20, do they have turn that in as well? That probably has happened and I wonder if Circle K did the same thing to those employees.

I'm hoping he wins and is able to keep the money and go have a happy life.

Comment #7

LottoIntuitive — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 18:53:33 GMT

But since the draw had already taken place by the time Gawlitza paid for it

That's it. That's should be the end of the story. Gawlitza bought a ticket after the draw, so no one should be able to claim it. Put the money back into the lottery fund and keep it moving. He could've watched the draw, seen it was a winner, and then paid for it. He should've bought the ticket before the draw had taken place.

Comment #6

Participant — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 01:35:59 GMT

Gawlitza has no claim.

the chain has an official rule in place requiring employees to buy accidentally printed lottery tickets valued over $20 as a punishment for printing mistake tickets

This policy is vague and however you interpret it, the policy stands to disfavor Gawiitza.

Gawiltza did not print the mistake tickets. The policy could not be interpreted to apply to every employee including those who did not make the mistake. So, Gawiltza cannot be punished for another's mistake.... [ More ]

Comment #5

dickblow — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 23:40:12 GMT

so he left work after his day was done bought a ticket cant collect after he left work he can do what he wants

Comment #4

justadream — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 19:44:13 GMT

So that store policy is only coming to light now with current employees confirming it ? Why now...like maybe they see a piece of the pie ? Something like that would have been brought to the attention of the lottery a long time ago by fired employees.

The whole story seems sketchy to me.

Why didn't he buy them all if that was the policy

Comment #3

Tony Numbers — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 19:31:15 GMT

Hate to say this but Gawlitza trying to abide by company policy is why he's in this mess. Had he just bought the ticket, and kept his mouth shut he could have just resigned from his job, then cash the ticket nobody else would have a claim to it. His loyalty to Circle K backfired, they wrangled the ticket from him and terminated his employment. He didn't need to clock out and change his clothes should have just taken the ticket that he paid for and left and never come back

Comment #2

noise-gate — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:07:20 GMT

* The minute gawlitza changed out of he's company uniform purchased the ticket- he entered the danger zone.

* You shouldn't be (legally ) purchasing a lottery ticket then suddenly finding yourself in a court battle over the money. Someone did something wrong.

Comment #1

Tony Numbers — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 15:50:11 GMT

Godspeed Gawlitza and Ybarra, don't let them snip s screw ya

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

Former NFL player backs up ex-Circle K manager who tried to claim $12.8M Arizona Lottery jackpot

Lottery Post — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 13:47:47 GMT

An ex-Arizona Lottery director says he was just following the rules

Includes video report

By Kate Northrop

The ex-Circle K manager embroiled in a legal battle over a $12.8 million Arizona Lottery jackpot-winning ticket has picked up an unexpected supporter: a former NFL player with alleged ties to the convenience store chain.

Nearly a year after the fight over a winning lottery ticket began, attorneys for the former store manager who purchased the winning ticket say that a new vo... [ More ]