Winner Claims 1 of 2 Mega Millions Jackpots in Same California Store

In December, something that many people may consider highly unlikely, or even impossible, happened. From the drawing on December 8, 2023, two incredibly lucky lottery players hit the jackpot from Mega Millions, the popular lottery game in America.

Considering the odds of 1 in 302.5 million, it sounds incredible to have two people guess correctly the winning numbers. But while having two people win the jackpot sounds mind-blowing, the chances of them purchasing the winning ticket from the same location are even slimmer.

On Tuesday, Mega Millions announced that one of the two winners of the December jackpot visited the California Lottery headquarters to claim their prize. What’s amazing in that case is that the two tickets for the jackpot, which was estimated at $395 million, were purchased at the same location, a Chevron gas station in Encino, California.

The lottery confirmed that F. Lahijani is the winner of one of the jackpot tickets. The man collected his share of the winnings, which was $197.5 million but declined comment.

Considering that half of the $395 million jackpot was claimed, another $197.5 million is yet to be claimed by the holder of the second winning ticket. The incredibly lucky winner that is yet to come forward has one year from the date of the draw to claim their prize.

The Retail Outlet That Sold the Two Jackpot Tickets Will Collect a Record Bonus

As with other wins above $1 million, the retail outlet that sold the winning ticket will benefit from a bonus. In this case, the minimart at the Chevron gas station at 18081 Ventura Blvd will collect a record-breaking bonus after selling the two winning tickets.

Retail businesses that sell tickets worth $1 million or more collect a bonus that is 0.5% of the total prize value. In light of this, the business will benefit from a $987,500 bonus, twice. This makes the total bonus for the Chevron gas station that sold the ticket a whopping $1.9 million. Usually, there’s a bonus limit a retail outlet can receive which is $1 million.

According to Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, this bonus of nearly $2 million was awarded after the same business sold the two winning tickets in two separate transactions. “This has never happened before, and we want to congratulate the owners of this particular retail location,” she added.