California woman wins ‘largest possible’ amount from scratch-off lottery

Mary Higelin has become the fourth person in the state lottery’s history to win the prize

Representational image: California lottery tickets are listed at $1-10 a piece (Getty Images)

A California woman has won the “largest possible” amount in the state’s scratch-off lottery, becoming only the fourth person ever to bag the prize from a scratch card.

The California Lottery announced Mary Higelin, a resident of Riverside County, as the winner of the biggest possible prize in the game.

Ms Higelin bought a Set for Life Millionaire Edition Scratchers ticket from a local liquor store in Norco, California, without knowing it would change her fortunes.

She is the fourth person in the state lottery’s history to win the prize.

Three others also received large prizes in the California lottery.

The lottery announced Ms Higelin won $20m, according to several media outlets.

According to KTLA, two other winners walked away with $10m each, while a fourth winner bagged $2m in one ticket.

The local news organisation reported that Salvador Carbajal, who won the $10m prize, purchased a 200X Scratchers ticket at Jensen’s Market from Maine Avenue in Baldwin Park.

The employee who sold Mr Carbajal the winning ticket told KTLA that he was a regular who had been “playing scratchers for a while”.

“He was playing different games, switching back and forth,” Milton Polanco, the man who sold him the ticket said, adding that the market also sold another ticket worth $15,000 a few years ago.

Roberto Nunes, the second person to win $10m this week bought his titanium Black scratch-off from a liquor store in Sherman Oaks.

And the final winner, Nicholas Simpson, won $2m from an Instant Prize Crossword ticket that he bought from a gas station on Sunset Boulevard.

According to the California Lottery, the stores where the winning tickets were sold will receive a retailer bonus of “one-half of one per cent of the prize amount”.

CN Liquor store, which sold Ms Higelin the big ticket, will get a monetary prize of about $100,000.

Californians have had big wins on tickets in the past as well, with a man in southern California winning a $2.04bn jackpot in November last year.