California

Three Decades of Persistence Pay Off in $785,040 Lottery Win

Loc Chu won $5,000 in 1985, when the CA Lotto first started selling tickets.

Persistence paid off for a man who won $785,040 last month in Orange County after playing the California Lottery for three decades.

Loc Chu got a lucky start to his lottery career, when he won $5,000 on a Scratchers ticket in 1985, the year California Lottery began selling tickets.

More than 30 years later, he scored nearly 160 times as much. The ticket Chu purchased at the Silverado Liquor Jr. Market at 26891 Camino De Estrel on Capistrano Beach fell one number short of the $257 million jackpot.

Still, the retiree told the California Lottery that he is "totally happy" with the win, according to a news release.

When he realized his luck, Chu took a photo of his wife with the ticket to make sure there was no doubt about who owned it.

He told the California Lotto that the money will first go toward bills. As to what would come after that, they weren't yet sure.

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