Anthony Smith was doing some grocery shopping at Gazzali's Supermarket on Bancroft Avenue in East Oakland when he had a sudden whim to invest in a few California Lottery scratch-off tickets. He purchased three of them and scratched off the first two without success. The third one proved to be the charm and the elated electrician discovered he'd won $1.3 million.
Smith opted to take his prize in a one-off, lump-sum payment of $750,000 before taxes.
Smith is regular customer at Gazzali's Supermarket and store manager Hamzzah Saleh was overjoyed when he heard the good news.
"He's a very nice gentleman. He deserves it," Saleh said.
