Hey! Lookie here. One of my neighbors hit it BIG TIME!:$112M lottery ticket sold in Rowlett
09:33 AM CST on Wednesday, March 2, 2005
ROWLETT — A single player has won the grand prize from the latest Mega Millions lotto drawing with a ticket bought in this Dallas suburb.
Lottery officials said the winning ticket from Tuesday night's drawing—worth $112 million—was sold at the Dal-Rock Grocery in Rowlett.
Store owner John Kamali said Wednesday that he was preparing to go open his other store when one of his employees called with the word. That was just the first of a cascade of phone calls about the drawing.
"I feel great," Kamali said. "It was the best news all this year and last year. It was very good news. I'm very excited."
He said he does not know who bought the winning ticket, but he does know that his store receives a bonus of $1.12 million—1 percent of the jackpot.
That was also good news to assistant store manager Phillip Marks. "It has been ecstatic here all morning long," he said. "We're just hoping the winner will come in and identify themselves."
The winning numbers from Tuesday night's drawing were: 1, 8, 18, 39 and 48. The Mega Ball number was 1.
This is the second time a ticket bought in Texas has won the Mega Millions jackpot. Both were sold in the Dallas area.
In October, Ut Van Nguyen of Carrollton won $62 million on the cash-value option from a $101 million jackpot.
Besides the grand prize winner, eight players matched all five numbers but not the Mega Ball number. They will receive second prizes of $175,000 each.
Another 56 players matched four numbers, plus the Mega Ball number -- good for third prizes of $5,000 each.
While he was happy for his store's good fortune, Marks said it could have been even better for him. "I bought three tickets and was hoping they'd win, but unfortunately, I didn't win."
WFAA-TV reporter Cynthia Vega in Rowlett and The Associated Press contributed to this report.