SACRAMENTO – A man from Big Bear Lake won $214,190 by picking five of six numbers in last Tuesday’s MEGA Millions draw – which is no small change for the Inland Empire drywall taper.
John Boucher uses only nickels and dimes to buy his Lottery tickets – one Mega Millions and one SuperLotto Plus ticket twice a week. He started the routine by looking for a way to avoid paying the fee at a change-counting machine. Instead, he started using his change for lottery tickets, and the small investment yielded a big return.
Boucher says he plans to pay some bills and pay off his house with his winnings – and he might even be able to use whole dollar bills to buy his lottery tickets now.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed nearly $21 billion to California schools out of total sales of more than $56 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.6 billion in compensation since 1985.