Lottery news from http://www.gazette.net/
Some lucky person has a $49-million winning Mega Millions lottery ticket burning a hole in his or her pocket, lottery officials announced Wednesday.
The winner, who still had not stepped forward as of Wednesday, won in Tuesday’s drawing after buying the ticket at Great Plaza Liquors in District Heights, said Jimmy White, a spokesman for the Maryland Lottery.
Maryland is one of 12 states in which Mega Millions is played.
If the winner opts for the cash payout in one lump sum, he or she will get $27,600,000, White said.
Great Plaza Liquors will receive $25,000 for selling the ticket, he said.
Owner Mina Patel said she will use the money to pay bills.
Although this is the store’s first multimillion winning ticket, lottery players have been lucky at her store before.
Previous winners have bought scratch-off tickets, and someone won $7 million not long after the store opened two years ago, Patel said.
Still, hearing the news Wednesday morning came as a surprise, she said.
A Maryland Lottery official called about 10 a.m., not long after the store opened. As Patel was speaking to her, another Maryland Lottery official walked in the store and presented his card.
‘‘Until then, I didn’t believe him,” she said of the official on the phone.
The winner likely is from the area because the store has several regular customers, Patel said.
‘‘We’re in a plaza. It’s residential customers,” she said. ‘‘They’re lovely customers. They’re very friendly and very good.”
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