Lottery winner shows up to claim $10,000 prize — and learns he actually won much more

The morning after a recent Mega Millions drawing, an Oklahoma man checked his ticket and saw he won big.

He just didn’t realize he had actually won much, much more.

Thinking he won $10,000, the Tulsa man stopped by the Oklahoma Lottery Winner Center to claim his winnings, according to an Aug. 9 news release from the Oklahoma Lottery.

That’s when staff told the man, identified only as Larry, that he had won $1 million.

“He was shocked!” lottery officials said in the release.

To win $10,000 with the Mega Millions game, a lottery player must match the gold ball and four of the five white balls. Players who match the five white balls earn at least $1 million.

Non-jackpot prize amounts can be multiplied if a player added on the Megaplier option.

The odds of matching the five white balls is 1 in 12,607,306, according to lottery officials.

Larry bought his winning Mega Millions ticket — for the Aug. 4 drawing — at a QuikTrip convenience store in Tulsa.

This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Lottery winner shows up to claim $10,000 prize — and learns he actually won much more."