SAN LEANDRO — A man won more than $300,000 Tuesday night playing the California Lottery’s Mega Millions game at a liquor store here, officials said Wednesday.
The ticket, worth $306,551, was bought at Mel’s Liquors, 985 Manor Blvd.
The unidentified man was the only person to pick all five regular numbers in the game, which were 2, 13, 15, 21 and 62. Had they selected 2 as the Mega number they would have won the overall jackpot of $55 million.
No one in the state got all the numbers and the jackpot for Friday’s game will be at least $63 million.
Store owner Vish Patel said Wednesday the man is a regular customer and retired contractor who lives in the area. His name was not released by lottery officials.
Patel said the man came to the store Wednesday afternoon to check his ticket and when he realized how much he had won “asked me if it was for real and I said, ‘Yes.’ ”
He said the man has been playing different lottery games several times a week for years. He said the man spends $12 every two days or so to play not only Mega Millions but also Fantasy 5, Power Ball and Super Lotto.
Even with the big win Tuesday, Patel said the man still bought his regular amount of tickets Wednesday. Patel said he bought the store in June of last year and never has had any customer hit as big a jackpot.
The winner has six months from the draw to claim the prize but Patel said he understood the man has already filed a claim with lottery officials to get his winnings.
The prize is considerable, but pales in comparison to the 11 employees at a South San Jose Wells Fargo Bank branch who split a $543 million total jackpot for getting all the numbers in the July 24 Mega Millions draw.