Weekend stop at store lands life-changing California State Lottery jackpot

When Bernardo Escobedo saw he had hit the jackpot on a “$1,000,000 Money Mania” scratcher ticket purchased in Long Beach, he found it “unbelievable” — literally.

“I went back inside and scanned it again because I still couldn’t believe it,” Escobedo said, according to a California State Lottery news release Thursday.

But it was true. He’d just won $1 million after buying the $10 ticket on a weekend stop at a liquor store.

Escobedo told lottery officials he enjoys buying scratchers tickets at different stores to test his luck.

“I’m the type of person who buys one ticket at whatever liquor store I go to,” he said. “I go to different ones and say, ‘Let me try here, see if this place gives me luck.’”

His biggest previous wins have topped out at $100 to $500. Escobedo is taking a cautious approach to deciding what to do with his jackpot.

“God will decide what comes next,” he said.

Players in the Sacramento area also won $1 million jackpots in the game.

Cynthia Bravo won with a ticket purchased at the Chevron station at 4200 Norwood Ave. in Sacramento and Metta Barone won with a ticket purchased at Safeway at 4805 Granite Drive in Rocklin, the lottery said.