DFW has had its fair share of winning Texas lottery tickets
Anna M. Tinsley
Star-Telegram
Maybe there is such a thing as luck.
On any given day, a line of people hoping to buy a winning lottery ticket stretches through Chuck's Grocery, a small convenience store in central Arlington.
After all, this is the store that sold a $15.4 million lotto ticket in 1994 -- and many smaller winning tickets since.
"A lot of customers say this is a lucky store," cashier Manuel Ruiz said. "Some people stop in who haven't been here before who say they had to stop because they thought it was lucky.
"If you have that feeling, then play."
This is the 20th year that the Texas Lottery -- which had a record $3.73 billion in sales last year -- has been in business. Whether the wins are chalked up to luck or timing, a number of Tarrant County stores have sold winning jackpot tickets.
At Chuck's, employees recognize those who buy tickets there and win, even creating a "wall of winners" -- with photos of some players and their prizes -- toward the back in a side room dedicated mostly to lottery sales.
There, a banner hangs from the ceiling touting the latest big win: "We sold a Winning Cash 5 Ticket."
Chuck's, at Secretary Street and Matlock Road, has sold more lottery tickets in the past three months than any other retailer in Tarrant County.
Last year, it ranked 21st among lottery sellers in Texas, and this year, the store sold $325,094 in lottery tickets from Aug. 20 to Nov. 12.
The county's No. 2 retailer was the Diamond Convenience Store on Keller Parkway in Keller, which sold $251,689, according to Texas Lottery Commission records.
About two years ago, Nolan Stagner was in line at Chuck's when he decided to buy his first scratch-off. He asked a woman in line to pick out a $1 ticket for him, and she did.
To Stagner's surprise, he won $50. He hasn't played since, but if he did, Chuck's is likely where he would buy tickets.
"People win here all the time," said Stagner, 57, of Arlington. "This is a good place."
Local winners
Stores in the Tarrant County area have had their fair share of winning tickets.
The C-Store Sub Express at 3201 N. Beach St. in Fort Worth has been the only one to sell a winning Millions jackpot ticket.
That happened Jan. 1, 2008, when John Jones of Fort Worth bought a quick pick there and ended up cashing in on the $33 million jackpot.
But locally, nearly 50 stores -- in addition to Chuck's -- have sold jackpot-winning Lotto Texas tickets.
Fort Worth stores have sold the most, 10, followed by Arlington with eight, Grand Prairie with six and Euless and Weatherford, with four each.
Winning lotto jackpot tickets have also been sold in local cities from Everman and Alvarado to Southlake and North Richland Hills, lottery records show.
The largest locally sold winning lotto jackpot ticket was $41.4 million from the Sack 'N Save on Northeast Loop 820 in North Richland Hills, in 2005.
That was when a group of five Postal Service employees in Fort Worth pooled their money to buy the winning ticket, which was initially worth $66 million.
Because the group chose a lump-sum payment, the employees received $41.4 million, which they divided by five.
The workers had long put their money together to buy lottery tickets, generally from a store on Denton Highway. But that day, one worker had errands to run, which is why the tickets were bought at the Sack 'N Save.
"I feel wonderful," postal worker Shirley Stephens said after learning that her group had won. "I feel great. I'm a little nervous."
Linda and Jim York of Fort Worth were the first locals to land a Lotto Texas jackpot, winning $3.4 million in 1992 -- the second lotto drawing -- with a ticket from Bob & Fred's in Fort Worth.
Fate may have played a role in Jim York's buying the winning ticket.
"I was going by the store, and the man who was working with me said, 'Jim, I think your wife told you to get a ticket,'" he said then. "So I had to go back in. Naturally, when Mama tells me to do something, I got to do it. I don't want to get in trouble."
In Weatherford, the Handy Place has the distinction of selling two winning jackpot tickets: one for $20.2 million in December 1994 to Diane Leiding, the other for $32.3 million in September 1995 to Rodney Riedel.
The most recently sold winning lotto jackpot ticket in the area, for $7.1 million, was in 2009 at the Big Country Mart in Burleson.
But it was never claimed.
When the Star-Telegram called the Burleson store recently, a man who answered the phone declined to identify himself or talk about the lottery. Asked about the winning ticket sold at his store, he said that "was a long time ago" and hung up.
What is luck?
But maybe there's no such thing as a "lucky" place to buy lottery tickets.
"Chances of hitting the jackpot are the same regardless of where you buy your lottery ticket, so in this sense, there are no 'lucky' places to buy tickets," said Robert Hannum, a professor of risk analysis and gaming at the University of Denver. "If you win the lottery tonight, you would then be considered lucky.
"If you win 20 straight bets at roulette, you are definitely lucky. If a particular 7-Eleven store sold three jackpot-winning lottery tickets in three months, it might be considered a lucky store for buying lottery tickets.
"The rub is none of this means you are more likely to win the lottery next week or win your next roulette bet or win the jackpot if you buy your next ticket at the 'lucky' 7-Eleven."
That's because winning lottery numbers are picked by a random-number generator, said Doyle Andrews, an instructor at the Institute for the Study of Gambling & Commercial Gaming in Nevada.
"Previous events have no effect on the next event," he said. "If one lottery outlet sells twice as many tickets as another outlet, then its probability is 2-to-1 of having a winner over the other. If all outlets sold the same amount of tickets, then they would have the same probability as the others of a winning ticket."
But one astrologer counters that there can be such a thing as a lucky alignment of planets around a person, which could propel a person toward a winning ticket.
"There are alignments of the planets in real time in relation to a person's alignment of planets at birth, which can bring optimum times for good fortune or expansion, or opportunities," said Laura Waldman, who gives spiritual psychic astrology readings in Austin.
"I have been an astrologer for 26 years, and sometimes I will notice in passing that a person has good astrology for gambling on a certain day so I will mention it.
"One person did win about $250 on a day I told her to buy a lottery ticket."
Still hoping
Since the Texas Lottery sold its first ticket in 1992, players have won more than $36 billion.
Paul, a lottery player who declined to give his last name, recently bought a few tickets at Chuck's. He has been a steady customer since the lottery began -- his biggest win has been $2,000 -- but he's waiting for a bigger prize.
He doesn't leave his odds of winning up to fate, though. He consistently plays a combination of his preferred numbers -- 711.
"I don't believe in luck," he said. "I believe in timing."
But he buys his tickets only at Chuck's.
Top 20 Lotto Texas tickets sold in the Tarrant County area
|
Drawing date |
Amount won |
Store name |
City |
Winnings claimed by |
|
May 21, 2005 |
$41.4 million |
Sack 'N Save No. 219 |
North Richland Hills |
Lucky Postal 5 Partnership |
|
Dec. 26, 2001 |
$36 million |
Riverside Food Mart |
Fort Worth |
Triple J NXS Trust |
|
Sept. 23, 1995 |
$32.3 million |
Handy Place |
Weatherford |
Rodney A. Riedel |
|
Aug. 19, 1995 |
$26.87 million |
Cody Country Market |
Weatherford |
Christopher M. Tull |
|
April 12, 1995 |
$26 million |
3 Lucky Lady Oil Co. |
Arlington |
Lowrimore Family, LP |
|
Feb. 7, 1996 |
$21 million |
Tony's Ranglers |
Granbury |
McCraw Family Partnership Ltd. |
|
Dec. 10, 1994 |
$20.19 million |
Handy Place |
Weatherford |
Diane Leiding |
|
Jan. 22, 2003 |
$16.27 million |
Kroger No. 817 |
Grand Prairie |
Perkov Family Trust |
|
June 22, 1994 |
$15.7 million |
Stop N Go No. 1894 |
Euless |
David Skinner Trust |
|
March 16, 1994 |
$15.4 million |
Chuck's Grocery |
Arlington |
Larry G. Williams |
|
Jan. 28, 1995 |
$13.06 million |
7-Eleven 1631-20427 |
Fort Worth |
Robert Dunlap Jr. Trust |
|
Jan. 28, 1995 |
$13.06 million |
Fuel Service Systems No. 511 |
Sansom Park |
Kenneth E. Burgess |
|
Oct. 23, 1993 |
$12.6 million |
7-Eleven No. 1631-12532 |
Fort Worth |
Pedro J. Quezada |
|
Oct. 23, 1993 |
$12.6 million |
Exxon No. 67253 |
Arlington |
Edith R. Baker |
|
April 24, 1996 |
$12.19 million |
EZ Mart No. 502 |
Grand Prairie |
JLO Revocable Management Trust |
|
Sept. 3, 1997 |
$10 million |
Circle S No. 10 |
Weatherford |
John T. Rhode |
|
Nov. 5, 1997 |
$10 million |
7-Eleven |
Hurst |
The Alan Nunn Trust |
|
Nov. 11, 1995 |
$9.5 million |
7-Eleven No. 1634 |
Bedford |
Jacobi Family Trust |
|
June 11, 1997 |
$9 million |
Lucky 7 Beer & Wine |
Fort Worth |
Coolio Enterprises Ltd. |
|
Feb. 11, 1995 |
$8.9 million |
Lakeside Grocery & Grill |
Arlington |
Gerald W. Kubricht |
Source: Texas Lottery Commission
Anna M. Tinsley, 817-390-7610
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