LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A southeastern Kentucky man went to bed Tuesday night not even realizing he was a millionaire.
George Cerveny said he's played the same numbers on the lottery for years. When he saw Tuesday's numbers in the Mega Millions drawing, he thought they looked "real good."
"They looked familiar," he said. "It didn't hit the three number, of course, that's the [Megaball] and I thought, 'okay, time to go to bed.'"
Wednesday morning, Cerveny woke up and got a phone call from an employee at the Circle K on Gordon Hill Pike in Corbin, Kentucky. That's where he purchased the ticket for the Mega Millions.
The employee told him the store's manager had been trying to get a hold of him. Turns out, Cerveny had matched the five white numbers winning the $1 million prize!
"I went to bed a millionaire and didn't even know it," he said. "I did a little dance hoping it was real. It took us a minute because I finally pulled the tickets out and checked them and we were like 'oh, hell yeah.'"
Cerveny told lottery officials he's bought tickets at that Circle K for nearly ten years, but has never won anything more than a few bucks.
He and his wife made the long drive to the Kentucky Lottery's Headquarters in Louisville on Wednesday. They received a check for $715,000.
"We're going to get out of debt," Cerveny said. "That's probably the answer for most people but we're going to get out of debt and not have to worry about it...and figure out a nice vacation."
Circle K will receive a $10,000 check for selling the winning ticket.
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