Houston metro area gas stations $810 million worth of Mega Millions sold Shopkeepers who bought tickets on Tuesday learned of their stores' fate by reading the news and making late-night phone calls.
Murphy USA 8848 in Sugar Land was getting ready to close for the night when night shift workers received a call just days after the state lottery released details about a jackpot-winning ticket and the business that sold it.
“One of our closers got a call,” said Murphy USA District Manager Jonathan Amaya. told Houston Public Media. “And we started reading articles online and it became our shop. It's the weirdest thing.”
The lottery player purchased the ticket at Murphy’s Express at 7520 Highway 90A in Sugar Land and matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night.
The lucky numbers were 1, 2, 16, 24, 66 and the gold Mega Ball 6.
“We're just excited,” Amaya said. “Hopefully we'll get to meet the customer who won the winning ticket, and we're really excited for the community as well as this location. It's a huge win.”
Texas lottery winners can remain anonymous if their winnings exceed $1 million.
The Texas Lottery said Tuesday's winner has not yet claimed his prize but has decided to receive a lump sum of $409.3 million after choosing the cash value option at the time of purchase.
The business is located across from Constellation Field, the home ballpark of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys — the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros — and is 21 miles southwest of downtown Houston.
Because he sold the winning ticket, Murphy USA is eligible to receive a retail prize of $1 million.
“I want you to give your employees a raise,” Darryl Roquemore, a regular at the gas station, told the outlet.
“I check all my tickets when I get up in the morning because that's where I play,” he said. “And they're really nice at this store, they're really polite to everybody.”
Texas Lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell gave the unknown winner several tips before cashing in the ticket.
“We are extremely excited to celebrate Texas' biggest jackpot winner ever and can't wait to meet and congratulate him in person,” Mindell said. “If you are the lucky holder of the winning ticket, be sure to sign it, secure it in a safe place, consult financial and legal advisors and then contact the Texas Lottery before heading to Austin to collect your prize.”
It was the seventh-largest jackpot won in Mega Millions history, and the largest lottery prize won by a Texas Lottery player.
Texas wasn't the only state that saw million-dollar winners in Tuesday's drawing.
Four other lucky players — from New York, California, Florida and Washington state — won the $1 million prize by matching five white balls.
The New York ticket holder purchased the lucky slip at a Gulf Express gas station in New Windsor, 15 miles north of West Point.
