On Tuesday, May 27, 2013, Glenn Eaton popped down to Mikey's Gas Mart in Atlanta, New York, to buy a bottle of Mountain Dew to soother his wife's headache. He purchased a US Mega Millions ticket at the same time. When he returned to Mikey's last Thursday he had his wife Jennifer with him and they were both happily anticipating a bottle of champagne because the Quick Pick ticket had made them millionaires and New York Lottery announcer Yolanda Vega was in town to present the ceremonial check.
Eaton's ticket won a second tier prize of $1 million just hours after he purchased it, but he never thought to check his numbers until the following morning when a roommate told him someone had won a major prize on a ticket purchased from Mikey's Gas Mart.
"I picked up my phone and I picked up my ticket and started reading it," Eaton said. “While I was reading it, my hands started shaking and I told my wife, 'I won!'"
Eaton had made the same announcement a few weeks earlier for a prank and had convinced his family it was true, so this time around Jennifer didn’t believe him, but the joke was on her again because this time it was true.
Eaton opted to take his winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $661,800, after taxes. As for his plans for the money Eaton said: "We plan on buying a house and buying an SUV to lug our kids around to sporting events and wherever they have to go."
