Sometimes all it takes is a simple walk.
When Eurico Chin went out for a walk last month he found himself in front of a Safeway in San Francisco.
He asked himself: “Why not?”
His next thought: “I’m already here, might a well buy one.”
Chin walked in and bought five SuperLotto Plus Quick Pick tickets – a move that changed his life forever.
Chin, 41, didn’t even know he had the winning ticket until a day after the May 24 draw.
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A spokesperson for California Lottery said that Chin didn’t want his picture taken or do media interviews after finding out that he had won $70 million.
He was in the lottery office Monday to claim his win, a month after he found out about it.
“I was watching the news and I saw that the winner was on Noriega (street) and I remembered that I bought the ticket on Noriega,” Chin told California Lottery. “I thought to myself, ‘well, it might be me.’”
When Chin went online to check his ticket he saw that the winning numbers – 13, 11, 23, 27 and 29 – and the mega number 10 matched all six numbers on the first line of his ticket.
“First I was in shock, I couldn’t believe it,” Chin said. “I checked the ticket several times to make sure that I won.”
Shock was quickly replaced with worry.
Chin found it hard to sleep that night, he said. He wanted to make sure he had a plan in place for the money.
“You have to plan carefully about what to do with the money,” he said, adding that he started researching different options immediately.
He’s still working out some of the details, but the new multi-millionaire says he plans to invest most of the money. He also wants to splurge on a house or car.
“One step at a time,” he said with a laugh.
The Safeway at 2350 Noriega Street in San Francisco will receive a bonus of $350,000 for selling the winning ticket.
Chin is currently not working, but with the lottery win, he says he will probably end up retiring.
“I think it’s (the jackpot) going to bring me a little more comfort,” he said. “I won’t have to worry about money. And I think that’s the main thing.”
According to California Lottery, the last time a SuperLotto Plus win was this high was in 2009 when someone won $76 million. That ticket was purchased in Shasta.
