Latest news with #EugeneBrown
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
‘Prankster' shows wife winning CA lottery ticket. But it ‘was no joking matter'
A California man has a history of playing pranks on his wife. So, when Eugene Brown handed a lottery ticket to his wife to confirm a big win, she shrugged it off, California Lottery officials said in a June 18 news release. 'Could you please take the garbage out?' she told him, according to lottery officials. Little did his wife know, it 'was no joking matter;' she was holding a lottery ticket worth millions. Brown bought the $20 ticket while taking their toddler out for breakfast and a walk, lottery officials said. On the way, he stopped at a Menifee gas station and purchased two Maximum Millions scratchers, lottery officials said. While it's a common stop for Brown, he told lottery officials he's thankful he stopped when he did. Had his wife not asked him to go out, he may 'not have gone to the store,' Brown said. 'Or I would've gone later, and somebody else would've gotten the ticket,' Brown told lottery officials. 'But everything lined up in the universe.' When he returned home, he scratched his two tickets, lottery officials said. While he won $75 on the first ticket, the win on his second ticket left him in 'disbelief,' lottery officials said. 'Was it $5,000? Was it $50,000? He wasn't sure,' lottery officials said. Unsure, he asked his wife to check the ticket, lottery officials said. 'Babe,' Brown said he asked her, 'could you take a look at this?' 'It's $5 million,' the wife said, unmoved by her 'unrepentant prankster.' 'I'm not in the mood right now,' she said, according to lottery officials. Brown, though, assured his wife he was serious; they had won one of the game's three $5 million prizes. 'You'd better not be lying,' she told him. Brown said he plans to use the winnings to pay off his home's mortgage and put the rest in a trust for his children's future. 'I'm not lucky,' Brown told lottery officials. 'I'm blessed.' Menifee is about an 80-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Prankster wins the lottery. Wife tells him to take out the garbage
Eugene Brown of Menifee is known as a prankster. He once told his wife that one of her favorite singers had died so he could record her reaction. So you can understand why she might not believe him when he showed her his $5 million lottery ticket. She's also a teacher, hence the low tolerance for nonsense. He eventually convinced her that it wasn't a gag —the family had really become one of California's latest lottery millionaires. Brown bought the winning ticket when he was recently out with their toddler so his wife could take a little breather. The pair headed out for breakfast and a walk, according to California Lottery officials. The ARCO ampm in Menifee, at Newport and Menifee roads, is a regular stop for Brown, who picks up Scratchers there. On this day, Dad and the tyke stopped together and he bought a ticket. 'If she hadn't asked me to go out, I might not have gone to the store,' Brown said. 'Somebody else would've gotten that ticket. But everything lined up in the universe.' When the pair got home from their amble, Brown scratched his tickets. He won $75! Then he won what he thought was $5,000. But he wasn't sure, so he showed his Maximum Millions ticket to his wife. She told him it was $5 million. Then, sure it was a prank, he said, she asked him calmly to take out the garbage. It took some convincing, but Brown persuaded his wife they were a few million dollars richer. He told lottery officials he planned to pay off his house then put the rest into a trust. Winning a big prize in the lottery is extremely rare. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 292 million; Mega Millions, about 1 in 290.4 million; SuperLotto Plus, 1 in 41.4 million. Scrachers odds vary depending on the game, according to the California Lottery, with the odds of winning any sort of prize across all Scratchers at about 1 in 5. Southern California has been on a roll with — again, exceedingly rare — jackpot prize winners. Two of the four Powerball jackpot winners in 2025 were from SoCal, with a winner picking up $204.5 million at an Arleta 7-Eleven in early June and a $515 million Powerball ticket sold in Anaheim.
