$33M winning Walnut Creek lotto ticket yet to be claimed

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.

So far, the lucky jackpot winner has not come forward to claim their $33 million. The winning ticket was bought less than an hour before the drawing at 8:00 Wednesday night and the store where it was purchased isn't a place where enthusiasm for the lottery runs high.

"I don't play it because I'm just not that lucky," Clayton resident R.J. Roach said. On Wednesday, only nine customers bought $32 worth of California SuperLotto tickets there. "We don't sell too much, but I think now it will be, definitely," store manager Deep Singh said.

"I don't really believe in luck and I like to work for what I get," Concord resident Isabel Harrison told ABC7 News Thursday. Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet. It was a $33 million jackpot that had been growing since December 22 and now, a single winner who believes in luck spent $5 on a quick pick ticket and takes it all.

"Do something good with the money. Treat yourself well, treat others well. I hope he just doesn't go blow it somewhere like Las Vegas or something," said Ben Kurio of Antioch.

The winner has the option of taking home an estimated lump sum of $23.8 million or the annuity, $1.26 million each year for the next 26 years.

"That's a lot of money to spend, so I hope they help people and then of course, I hope they live a wonderful life," said Lori Ellis of Pinole.

The odds of winning were 1 in 42 million. The lucky winner has 180 days to clim their prize money or it will be given to the state for public education.

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