Photo: Ford, Brad
A McMinnville man is the latest Oregon’s Game Megabucks jackpot winner, taking home a $5.8 million jackpot. Richard Krohn matched all six numbers for the Monday, July 26 drawing.
“I have been playing these numbers for about year,” Krohn said. “They are a combination of birthdays and anniversaries.”
Krohn said he was a long-time player who faithfully buys a ticket for each drawing, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, however the week he won, he had forgotten to get a ticket.
“Over the weekend I had forgotten to get the Saturday ticket, and we were driving by the 7-Eleven near Linfield (College) and we stopped to get one,” he said. “I’m glad I did!”
Krohn said it is also his routine to check his tickets with his morning coffee, manually looking online and circling the numbers on his ticket.
“I looked at the numbers and then looked again,” he said. “I have the Lottery app, so I scanned the ticket and the screen blew up with stars and balloons!”
He then woke up his wife, shouting, “You have to get up! I got my numbers! I got all of them!”
The morning Krohn found out he’d won, he brought the ticket to the Oregon Lottery headquarters for safe keeping. Players who win jackpot prizes can bring their winning ticket to the Lottery office in Salem to have the ticket validated. The Lottery will then securely hold onto the ticket for up to 60 days while the winners can arrange how best to claim their prize. Krohn said he used the two weeks to talk with an accountant and his attorney before claiming the prize.
Krohn took the prize as a 30-year annuity, to be paid annually and said the couple were still planning on what to do with the prize.
“My wife said she is flying first class from now on, that’s really the only thing we have decided on,” he said.
Source: Oregon Lottery