LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A local man has claimed the prize he won last week in the California Lottery.
Paul Reed of Cobb hit it big playing the California Lottery’s Fantasy 5 game in the Nov. 15 draw.
Reed’s was one of two lucky tickets that matched all five winning numbers – 11, 3, 37, 2 and 7.
He and the second ticket holder – David Gillette, who purchased his ticket in Sacramento and claimed his prize last Friday – each won $179,745.
Reed bought his ticket at Cobb Texaco, 16390 Highway 175.
Reed said he’s been using these numbers for years, believing that they would eventually pay off.
“I got them off of a mailbox. They were an address,” said Reed.
He began putting the numbers in different combinations, until he landed on a grouping that felt right.
Reed has used the numbers in other draw games, but said the real mojo came about when he began giving Fantasy 5 a shot a few months ago.
“I hit three numbers a couple of times,” he said.
That was enough to convince him that he was onto something good.
Reed said the lucky vibe he had in playing last week was so strong that he intentionally waited until after the weekend to check his numbers, hoping to extend the moment.
His feelings were verified when he checked the Lottery’s Web site, but his wife Susan said reality didn’t hit them until they went back to the retailer and saw the winner announcement sign.
“There it was on the door. We jumped up and down. It’s real,” said Susan Reed.
Reed is the second Lake County lottery winner in the past two months.
In early October, Antonio Velasquez, a retired postmaster living in Clearlake Oaks, claimed his $14 million SuperLotto Plus jackpot that he won on a ticket he purchased at the town’s Red and White Store, as Lake County News has reported.