Lucky lottery player won $10,000 a ‘couple of times.’ Now he has much bigger CA prize

An avid lottery player became a millionaire after stopping to buy scratch-offs, California officials said.

Joel McCauley was on his way to work when he stopped in Mountain View for scratchers, according to a Feb. 13 news release by the California Lottery.

He had no idea the quick pit stop would land him $7.5 million, officials said.

He’ll usually buy the ticket, scan it in the store and get in his truck to go to work, officials said.

But McCauley, who said he’s been playing for “10 or 20 years or so” is “no stranger to winning” as he’s won $10,000 “a couple of times,” lottery officials said.

“At first, I thought it was $7,500,” he told lottery officials.

After getting in his truck, he scanned the ticket again in the California Lottery’s app and learned of his $7.5 million win, officials said.

“So, I turned my truck around and took the ticket home to leave it there,” he told officials.

McCauley, who still went to work after learning of his new-found fortune, doesn’t plan on quitting his job, officials said.

He plans to invest the money and keep driving his truck to work, with the habit of stopping by stores to pick up games that catch “his eye,” officials said.

Mountain View is about a 40-mile southeast of San Francisco.

This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Lucky lottery player won $10,000 a ‘couple of times.’ Now he has much bigger CA prize."