Woman Jostled By Stranger Pushes Wrong Lottery Machine Button And Wins $10M

A California woman who was jostled by a stranger, causing her to push the wrong Lottery Scratchers vending machine button, has won $10 million. The woman said she had no intention of purchasing the $30 200X Scratchers ticket that led her to win the top prize.

In a press release from California Lottery, it was revealed that Sacramento resident LaQuedra Edwards was placing $40 into a vending machine at a Tarzana Vons Supermarket in November when “some rude person” bumped into her. Edwards accidentally pushed the wrong number on the Lottery Scratchers machine and she got a $30 200X Scratchers ticket. Edwards said she was irritated as she had to spend 75% of her Lottery money on just one ticket. Edwards usually purchased cheaper tickets, the press release noted.

“He just bumped into me, didn’t say a thing and just walked out the door,” Edwards recalled. Despite her frustration, she got to her car and started scratching the unwanted ticket. Upon realizing that she had won the top prize of $10 million, she said she was in disbelief and nearly crashed her car. “I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my (California Lottery mobile) app, and I just kept thinking this can’t be right,” she said.

Edwards said she is planning to purchase a house and establish a non-profit with her lottery win. The press release also revealed that the Vons Supermarket in Los Angeles County where Edwards won her millions received a $50,000 bonus for its role in selling the ticket that Edwards didn’t want in the first place.

Winning odds for the $10 million jackpot from a 200X ticket are only 1 in 3 million, according to the California Lottery. Furthermore, there is only one $10 million jackpot, the Los Angeles Times reported. Edwards is only the fifth person to have won the said jackpot.

California Lottery’s beneficiaries are public schools in the state, according to its official website. The lottery said, “95 cents of every dollar you spend on Lottery games goes back to the community through contributions to public schools and colleges, prizes and retail compensation.” The lottery added that some beneficiary schools have used Lottery funds “for computer labs, teacher workshops and science programs.”