POWERBALL winner Theodorus Struyck – who scooped $1.7billion as part of a syndicate – had a strategy for buying lottery tickets.
The 65-year-old grandfather, known as Theo, bought the ticket in October at Midway Market in the small town of Frazier Park, about an hour’s drive from Los Angeles.
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He was named last week as the representative of the group that won the second-biggest prize in US history behind Edwin Castro, 32, who walked away with $2.04billion from a drawing in 2022.
Theo, who is from Hawaii, took out a $93,000 mortgage on his humble home before the win but has now paid off his house and set up a trust.
While there are many ways to play the lottery, it appears Theo was a big fan of the game and always made sure he was in it to win it.
Nidal “Andy” Khalil, who has co-owned the Midway Market & Liquor store since 1994, secured the business $1million from the sale.
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He said he was concerned the ticket had been lost as nobody came forward for months, but he was thrilled to hear Theo and his group had been named.
Andy told The U.S. Sun that Theo is a “very calm, quiet dude” who keeps himself to himself and has not sold his home in the town.
“I would say he came in to buy tickets once or twice a week with snacks,” Andy remembered.
“I believe he’s been down in San Diego with his family, I haven’t seen him since but it’s great news.
QUICK PICK LUCK
“I had a call from my nephew saying, ‘We sold the [winning] lottery ticket’.
“I said, ‘Come on man, it’s too early to tell right now’. He said, ‘No, I’m serious man, people have been calling me’.
“I opened Facebook and news was blowing up from the area. Then I started getting calls from the news and all that.
“The lottery contacted me, then they came and took the CCTV.
“I watched the video, but it was hard to tell [who it was] as so many people bought in that minute. I heard it was a $2 quick pick.”
Some people choose their numbers carefully, but the grandfather was keen on buying a “quick pick,” which is a ticket featuring computer-generated numbers for $2.
Drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights, and Theo allegedly played more than once a week so he was in with a better chance of winning.
The jackpot was won on the 36th draw in that sequence with the winning numbers being 22, 24, 40, 52, 64, and the red Powerball 10.
Theo was named in a press release from the California Lottery as representing an unknown group of people who hit the jackpot, which neighbors believe to be his family.
California Lottery Director Harjinder K. Shergill Chima previously said, “Announcing big wins like this gives all of our players the chance to hope and dream that they could be next.
“But it also gives us an opportunity to shine the spotlight on our terrific mission, which is to generate additional, supplemental funding for public education in California.”
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