California lottery player scored $500 on a scratchers ticket, tried his luck again, wins $1 million
A California man who says he rarely plays scratch-off lottery games turned his luck from a previous win into a million-dollar payday.
Vang Cha told California Lottery officials he usually prefers playing games with bigger jackpots – like the Powerball and Mega Millions prizes that have recently soared to over $1 billion.
Out of curiosity, Cha said he browsed the odds online of winning the $30 California 200X Scratchers game and the $10 million prize, according to a lottery news release.
"I looked at the odds of winning and found it's better odds than (the) SuperLotto Plus (game), so I figured I might as well give it a shot," he said.
He spent $30 on a ticket and took home a $500 prize – but dared to try his luck once more.
Cha used his $500 to buy 30 $10 Xtreme Multiplier Scratchers tickets at a Sacramento liquor store.
"I decided to just go all in and buy an entire book of the ten-dollar games," Cha said. "I went to work and scratched probably about 20 of them, went home and scratched the rest."
He revealed lucky number 16 on the fourth and final row of a ticket and was "stunned," he told lottery officials. He'd won a $1 million prize.
"I scanned it on the lottery app to make sure it was true, and it was," said Cha, adding that he plans to invest his winnings.
