Man buys lottery ticket to get change for pizza tip — and hits $1 million jackpot
A man who bought a California Lottery scratch-off ticket to break a $100 bill for a tip on his pizza order came away $1 million richer, officials reported.
McKinley Nelson ordered a pizza for his wife but found that he needed change to leave a cash tip when they arrived at a Round Table restaurant in Winters to pick it up, the California Lottery said in a Tuesday, June 10, news release.
So he went next door to Winters Wine & Liquor before picking up their food, lottery officials said.
'I had a $100 bill. So, I got two tickets,' Nelson told lottery officials. 'I think it was $20, and I went to the truck and started scratching.'
One, a Loteria Grande scratcher, seemed promising.
'I think this one's a million, but I'm not sure,' Nelson said he told his wife.
He was correct.
'So, my wife almost had a heart attack,' Nelson said. 'And then we had to go in and buy the pizza. It was all because of her, she's the one that likes the pizza.'
Nelson, 72, a retired veteran, plans to use the money to pay off his home, put some in savings and buy a camper van, lottery officials said. He said he's been playing the lottery for 40 years.
'It took a long time to win,' he said.
Winters is about a 30-mile drive west from Sacramento.
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