Three lottery players in the South Bay and one on the Peninsula combined to take home $6 million in winnings from Scratchers tickets recently, according to the California Lottery.
Thomas Nguyen won a $2 million jackpot playing an Instant Prize Crossword Scratchers he bought at a 7-Eleven store on Kooser Road in San Jose, the lottery said.
"I buy tickets, but I don’t scratch the entire thing at once," Nguyen told lottery officials. "I scratch a little at a time. It takes me all day to uncover the whole ticket, and when I played this one, I thought I won $2,000, but when I realized how many zeroes were there, I realized it was $2 million!"
Nguyen, who happened to buy his big winning ticket on his birthday, says he plans to build a house for his family with the prize money.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Agustin Cantu also won $2 million playing an Instant Prize Crossword Scratchers. He bought his ticket at the
original Royal Donut in Burlingame.
Back in the South Bay, Maria Esparza Franco played a 50X Fortune ticket and won $1 million. She bought the winning Scratchers ticket at the Rotten Robbie gas station on Oakland Road in San Jose.
Finally, Susan Beach won $1 million playing a Sparkling Riches ticket she bought at Tropicana Liquor in San Jose.
