Numbers All Pay Off for Lotto Winner : Jackpot: Cypress College student scores three times on one ticket, including $8-million bonanza. Goodby, minimarket night job; hello, $288,000 a year after taxes.
One line on Miguel Chung’s Lotto ticket won $1,984.
So did a second one.
The third line won a little more: $8 million.
Miguel Chung won’t be working nights at the AM-PM minimarket in Costa Mesa anymore.
The 23-year-old Cypress College student hit the jackpot this weekend.
And then he hit it a couple more times.
Chung, who lives with his parents in Downey, declined to be interviewed Monday, and lottery officials canceled a press conference scheduled for today at the family’s request.
“They were smiling and excited,” said Herman C. Dustman, district manager for the California Lottery’s Santa Ana office. “But in a real quiet way.”
Dustman said Chung intends to buy a new home for his parents, who run a dry cleaning business.
He also is considering starting an exotic fish business, Dustman said.
A business major at Cypress, he also intends to finish his education, a lottery spokeswoman said.
Friends at the Arco minimarket on Bristol Street where he works and where he bought the winning ticket said they were happy for their co-worker Monday.
“He’s a very quiet and nice young man,” said assistant manager Francis Man. “I hope he can use his money to make more money and share his joy with others.”
The triple winning ticket was only the second time Chung had played the state Lotto, officials said.
His first time, he won $5, officials said.
He will receive $400,000 a year--$288,000 after taxes--for the next 20 years.
The winning numbers were 23, 24, 30, 38, 43 and 45.
Chung apparently chose the numbers from previous winning numbers, said Nora Minas, a spokeswoman with the state lottery.
But she didn’t know what his system was, exactly.
“He’s very excited,” she said. “He can’t sleep.”
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