Peninsula Daily News
and The Associated Press
Someone who bought a Mega Millions ticket in Ephrata, near Moses Lake, is a multimillionaire. All he or she needs to do is go to Olympia.
The ticket is one of two — the other sold in Idaho — that match all six numbers to share in a $380 million jackpot.
All state lottery officials know now is that the Washington ticket was purchased at a Safeway store in Ephrata. The ticket holder must contact the state lottery office in Olympia and present the ticket to claim the prize.
The other winner is from the northern Idaho town of Post Falls, just across the border from Washington, according to Idaho Lottery officials, who declined to identify the store where the winning ticket was sold.
The two winners have not yet stepped forward.
Cherie Myers, spokeswoman for Safeway, confirmed this morning that the Washington winning ticket was purchased at a Safeway store in Ephrata, but she doesn’t know who the winner is, or even when the ticket was purchased.
“It’s a waiting game,” Myers said. “There’s 7,800 people (in Ephrata) who are waking up now hearing the news. If you live in Ephrata, you’re going to be checking your ticket. Somebody’s going to be happy, that’s for sure.”
Because of feverish sales before Tuesday night’s drawing, the winners will now share a $380 million jackpot, an increase of the previous $355 million estimate, said Scott Kinney, Washington’s Lottery spokesman.
“We’re still in a waiting pattern, waiting for the winner to come forward. It’s really exciting,” said Kinney. He said the winner will have to take his ticket to Olympia for the payout.
Idaho’s number was picked by machine, but the Washington winner picked his own numbers, said Kinney, and the winner actually won twice.
The winner bought two tickets on Jan. 2 at 3:30 p.m. and put the same numbers on both tickets, but switched the number for the last Mega Million number. Because the winner had two winning tickets he won $150 for the other ticket, Kinney said.
“It’s like a person who finds two four-leaf clovers,” he said.
The Washington State Lottery found out the state had a winner at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. The state has had a Mega Millions game since 2002.
The winning numbers are 4-8-15-25-47 with a Mega Ball of 42.
Earlier report:
By Rob Ollikainen
Peninsula Daily News
Lotto fever stretched from Port Townsend to Forks — and from coast to coast — on Tuesday as a lottery jackpot reached an astronomical $355 million.
The Mega Millions drawing was held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, and the winning numbers were 4-8-15-25-47 with a Mega Ball of 42.
Whether anyone playing the game in the 41-state lottery holds the winning numbers — and where the winning ticket or tickets were sold — won’t be announced until this morning.
Building up to Tuesday night’s drawing, stores on the North Olympic Peninsula reported brisk sales as would-be multimillionaires hoped to cash in on the second-largest jackpot in U.S. history.
The odds of winning the jackpot were 1 in 179 million, but that didn’t stop Vance Mattix from buying a ticket at the 76 Food Mart in Port Angeles, which had sold 322 as of 5:30 p.m.
“I’d do what everybody would do,” said Mattix, when asked what he would do with $355 million.
“Quit my job.”
Willie Nelson, who owns All Points Charters and Tours of Port Angeles, said he would spend the quarter-billion sprucing up Port Angeles.
“You’d see a remarkable change to the waterfront and the way the town looks,” Nelson said.
Jason Hope said he would donate much of the prize to charity and save “enough to live the rest of my life without working.”
As fantasies of fortune kept the customers coming, clerks and store owners reported double and triple the normal sales.
“We’re seeing a lot of faces we haven’t seen before,” said Roger Ramey, who owns Penny Saver Mart in Port Townsend.
Customers spent an average of $5 on tickets, he said. One Mega Millions ticket costs $1.
“No one has been buying $100 worth,” Ramey said.
“We’re selling a lot more tickets than normal, of course, but it’s $5 here, $5 there.”
The largest jackpot in the world is believed to be the $390 million Mega Millions prize on March 6, 2007.
If there was no winner from Tuesday’s drawing, Mega Millions will smash that record with a $480 million rollover jackpot for Friday night.
Sheri Bowers at Bill’s Texaco in Forks said lotto sales had “about tripled” Tuesday.
“We’ve had a couple buy 50,” she said.
“There’s been a lot of tens and mostly fives.”
In the Mega Millions game, players try to win by matching five regular numbers plus the Mega Ball.
“Every other customer bought a ticket,” said Daljit Seera, who helps his family run the 76 Food Mart in Port Angeles.
He said one customer spent $120 on Mega Millions tickets last Friday, when the jackpot was still in the paltry $200 millions.
Seera’s wife, Kulwinder Seera, said sales picked up when the jackpot reached $240 million last week.
Tom Headley, who works at the Port Townsend liquor store, said most customers were spending $2, $5 or $10 on tickets.
“We doing our fair share,” he said.
Craig Thompson had been on duty at the Carlsborg Station for a half-hour when he reported a noticeable spike in lottery sales.
“It’s like every other person,” Thompson said.
“Most people are buying two or four or five at a time.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
