Man Wins Mega Millions After Cashier Makes Mistake on Lottery Ticket One printing mistake at a mini mart left Josh Buster with a very lucky accident.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Sometimes it can feel like a real inconvenience when you don't get what you asked for, especially when you order something and there's a major mistake.
But for Josh Buster of West Burlington, Iowa, one convenience store cashier's simple printing mistake led to a little stroke of luck that earned him a whopping $1 million.
Buster visited MK Mini Mart in West Burlington, where he asked the cashier to issue him five easy-pick plays for the Mega Millions drawing, which took place on Friday.
Related: California Woman Wins Lottery by Accident
The cashier accidentally only printed Buster one play and then asked if the other four could just be printed on a separate ticket, which hypothetically would have changed the numbers and their order for the following four plays, because a new ticket was issued instead of printing all five in one go on one receipt.
"I got up to go to work early in the morning. I opened up the lottery app and scanned my tickets," Buster said, recalling this past Saturday morning. "I always keep my tickets in the console of my car. And I scanned it in the car and freaked out and ran back inside."
Buster won $1 million of the $20 million that the jackpot consisted of, matching the five numbers in the winning pick but missing the Mega Ball match.
Related: North Carolina Man Wins Lottery Twice After Accidentally Buying 2 Identical Tickets
For $2 per play, Mega Millions players select five numbers out of 70 and then a sixth number — which is called the Mega Ball — out of 25 other numbers. Mega Millions are drawn on Tuesdays and Fridays.
"It will take away a lot of my stress in my life — no more of the financial worries," Buster told the Iowa Lottery. "I'm just waiting to wake up from a dream."
During the same drawing, a ticket scanned in Tennessee matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win a whopping $20 million prize, though the winner has not yet been identified.
The estimated jackpot for the next Mega Millions was $31 million as of Monday afternoon. The drawing will take place Tuesday evening.
