So What’s a Lousy $12 Million? : Lotto: Some of the players who got four of six numbers aren’t too keen about coming close.
Edward Manougian was so disgusted that he fell just two numbers shy of sharing in Wednesday’s $117.1-million Lotto jackpot that he thought about calling in sick Thursday at work.
“I didn’t feel like coming in today just thinking about those two numbers, the Costa Mesa tailor said Thursday afternoon as he methodically stitched a pair of pants. “I felt terrible.”
So did 84,304 others with four out of six right numbers who wound up with $66 instead of nearly $12 million.
Manougian, 53, a native of Iraq, said he had dreamed of using his winnings to send for family members still in the war-torn country. But his hopes, like those of many county residents who fantasized about becoming instant millionaires, were dashed late Wednesday when California Lottery officials announced somebody else’s lucky numbers. So much for telling the boss what he could do with his cruddy job. For the losers, it was just another day at the office.
From gas station attendants to firefighters, they wondered: “Why couldn’t it have been me?” But they had one thing in common: sour grapes.
“The winners are going to be miserable,” said Dee Vallieu, a resident of San Juan Capistrano. “People who they cannot remember will be knocking on their doors.”
Santa Ana Fire Capt. Brian Schreckler did not hide his displeasure Thursday afternoon after learning that a group of 31 bowlers from Northern California had shared in the lottery jackpot.
“I heard it was a bowling club that won,” he said, munching on a yogurt sundae. “That would be really disgusting.”
Not everyone was so bitter.
Alison Stephens, a florist from Yorba Linda, said she will continue to play the Lotto “once in a while.”
“I’m really disappointed but I was glad that at least someone won it,” she said. “It is ridiculous, though, that more people didn’t match the right numbers.”
Not surprisingly, Lotto sales dropped off dramatically on Thursday, according to several area sales outlets. At lottery headquarters in Sacramento, where officials have spent the past few days keeping tabs on skyrocketing Lotto sales, no one was even bothering to keep track Thursday.
At a Stop N Go store in Fountain Valley, clerks had sold 30 tickets by late afternoon, compared to a record 6,000 on Wednesday. The night before, dozens of customers had rushed in to check their tickets, but there were few winners.
“One man bought 25 tickets but he didn’t pick a single winning number,” assistant manager Aijaz Ali said. “He was so disappointed, he couldn’t believe it.”
“People get their hopes too high,” said John Visser, a liquor store owner in San Juan Capistrano. “Where are they today?” he asked, pointing to his empty store. “They’ve spent all their money. . . . But they’ll be back when there’s another big jackpot. Bet on it!”
Others such as Costa Mesa resident Joanne Hanik took it in stride.
“I just spent $10. I didn’t do enough to get the blues,” she said. “I don’t usually play, but with the jackpot that large you just have to take your stake and do it.”
Varant Avedissian, an Irvine resident, agreed: “Next week it’s going to be another $4 million or whatever. That’s still a lot of money,” he said. “I’m going to keep playing until I die. If I win, fine. If not, that’s fine too.”
