Most Lottery ‘winners’ will tell you their biggest prizes rarely amount to the cost of a handful of tickets. However, one couple persevered for 20 years and finally won a jackpot of $1 million.
CA Lottery revealed the couple’s good fortune in a news release. Nicholas Gercis and his wife explained that they regularly buy scratch cards and had some success with one particular ticket type. “We buy Scratchers every week, and we started buying these Fifty X times ones, and it was doing okay for us.”
Gercis told the outlet they had won a couple of prizes of “$100 and stuff.” They couldn’t believe it when they won a far grander prize. “It was just, like, you know, just what the heck?” Gercis reportedly said. CA Lottery explains that the couple bought their winning ticket from the 7-Eleven at 12578 Schleisman Road in Eastvale. They frequently purchase tickets for fun and tell the California Lottery that they have played on and off for at least 20 years by their count.
The Sacramento Couple Reveals What They Plan To Do With Their Lottery Winnings
CA Lottery clarifies that the couple won the top prize on the “50X The Cash” ticket, a cool $1 million. The Gercis family told the organization they plan to pay off the rest of their house. They also plan to donate some to the church and invest the rest.
Earlier this year, the CA Lottery released another news release saying someone won over $1 million, but had yet to claim it. The issue was that the winning ticket was purchased in December 2024, and the prize had an expiry date of 180 days.
Regardless of the size of the prize, the CA Lottery revealed what would happen to the $1,391,550 should nobody claim it. They explained that the money would be donated to local schools across California. In fact, the organization claims it has given out over $1 billion in unclaimed winnings since the Lottery’s inception in 1985. In the most recent news release, Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, said, “Raising extra money for California public education is the only reason the California Lottery exists.” She pointed out that ticket sales have generated over $46 billion for schools at all levels.