By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
LYNN — A record-breaking lottery win may have come from Cal’s News Store.
In Sunday night’s Mass Cash game drawing, the numbers 2, 5, 11, 18 and 21 were pulled. Fifteen tickets with the same five-number combination were purchased from the Central Avenue shop and won the game’s $100,000 top prize.
The prize has not been claimed but if a single person purchased all 15 tickets, they will take home $1.5 million, or $1.05 million after state and federal taxes are deducted, said Christian Teja, a Mass. Lottery spokesman. The win would break a record for the game that was set in 1993 when Robert Shilowski of Sharon, Mass. bought 12 winning tickets.
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“In most cases when numerous tickets like this are sold at one location, it’s typically the same person who has purchased all of them,” Teja said. “But until they come forward to claim the prize, we won’t know with certainty. Right now, we can’t say whether it’s one person or not.”
The probability of choosing all five numbers is one in 324,632. The odds of getting four out of five is one in 2,164, but the award drops to $250.
The money will be awarded in 15 checks, each for $70,000. The winner has one year to claim the prize, Teja said.
But regulars and employees at Cal’s News are hopeful that the winner is one of the store’s regulars.
“All I can tell you is that it’s one person who won,” said Barry Nardone, a Cal’s News employee.
The man who he believes is the winner often purchases 15 tickets at a time, he said.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte