News writer
Lebanon may be a small town in Maine, but it is handing out huge wins for Maine Lottery players, so it might be time to take a trip to that small town!
The winning tickets
Lebanon happens to sit right near the border of New Hampshire and while the small town wasn’t known to many, a spotlight was put on it in 2023 when the winning ticket for a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot was sold at Hometown Gas & Grill, located on 1498 Carl Broggi Highway in Lebanon.
Now, over a year later, that same exact location happens to have sold another winning ticket for one lucky Maine Lottery player.
According to the Maine State Lottery, Adam Foster of Rochester, New Hampshire, won $1 million playing Mega Millions from a ticket purchased at Hometown Gas & Grill in August 2024.
So, two big Mega Millions within one year is quite impressive. However, it’s not the first time one location has sold more than one big winning lottery ticket.
Southern California lucky lottery retailer
In Southern California, players discovered a new lucky spot back in December 2023. This is a unique situation, as not only did they have two big winning tickets, but they had two big winning tickets for the same drawing!
The two winning tickets were purchased at Chevron, located at 18081 Ventura Boulevard in Encino. Both of the winning tickets matched all six of the winning numbers for the December 22, 2023, drawing for Mega Millions.
The jackpot had grown to $394 million — which equates to about $188.6 million in cash. Those two winning tickets, which were both purchased at the Chevron, split the $394 million jackpot that night.
Scratcher luck in Chicago
Meanwhile, a lucky lottery retailer in Chicago has the luck of selling big-winning scratch-off tickets for the Illinois Lottery.
The lucky retailer happens to be Shar’s Armanetti Fine Wines and Spirits, located at 222 W. Main St. in Carpentersville. The owner happens to call it “the lucky store” now, so some rebranding may be necessary!
In September 2023, one of their regular customers spent $30 on a Titanium Black 7s instant ticket. They ended up winning $3 million!
At the time, the store owner, Dhiren Patel, told lottery officials, "She scratched the ticket right in front of me after purchasing it and I witnessed the shocked look on her face. She then came over closer to me and excitedly said 'Pinch me, I need to make sure this is real! I won a big amount — thank you, thank you!' It's so exciting when the big wins go to our regular, local customers."
This wasn’t the first big win for the retailer, as they sold another multimillion-dollar scratch-off ticket back in March 2020. For that big winner, the player won $6 million.
While we have had two big winners for these retailers, can a third time happen? If it does, it might be the charm for one lucky player.
Enjoy playing the Maine Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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