A California man said he “can’t wait to get off the streets” after winning a $1 million lottery prize.
On Sunday, April 6, the manager of Sandy’s Deli-Liquor in San Luis Obispo sold the winning scratch-off ticket to the lucky winner, NBC affiliate KSBY-TV reported. According to store manager Wilson Samaan, the winner is a long-time customer who is also homeless.
“He came to the store, he scratched it and is like, ‘Oh, my god. Is that real?’ ” Wilson told the outlet.
Even after double checking the win, Wilson said that the man was in shock to see just how much money he’d won. “He’s like, ‘$100,000’ and I’m like, ‘No, bro. That’s $1 million. Congrats brother,’ ” the manager recalled.
The man bought two $5 Triple Red 777 scratchers, plus a few smaller tickets, for $25, Samaan told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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The store manager then helped the lucky lotto winner — who doesn’t have a car — by driving him to Fresno to verify his ticket with the California Lottery.
“He tried to mail it,” Samaan told the newspaper. “I told him, I’ll help you out. I offered him a bus ticket or for me to drive him. I didn’t want a million dollars to get lost in the mail.”
In a video posted to Instagram by local store Thrifty Beaches, the overjoyed lotto winner said he “just can’t wait to get off the streets.”
Speaking with KSBY-TV, a California lottery spokesperson said that the process of verifying the win could take anywhere from weeks to months.
“With a million-dollar ticket like this, the person who comes forward can expect a very thorough vetting process,” said Carolyn Becker, later adding, “We process over 10,000 winning claims a month, so that’s part of why it takes a little bit of time.”
When reached by PEOPLE, a lottery spokesperson said they were unable to share any additional information about the claim because the process has not been completed.
According to the lottery, the odds of winning a $1 million prize on a Triple Red 777 scratcher are 1 in 2,047,423.
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