The Region : Another Grocer Jumps Gun on Lottery

Unlike a San Francisco grocer whose early sale of state lottery tickets was deliberate, Dinh Dien said he was unaware he was jumping the gun in his JR Mart in Anaheim. The 33-year-old proprietor said he thought delivery of 17,500 tickets meant he could start selling them. Customers bought three of the scratch-off tickets. He and a nephew bought another 116. Dien had won $33 when two lottery agents, checking an anonymous tip, appeared and confiscated his remaining tickets. They also suspended his lottery license for 30 days for violating the rules. “I really enjoy to sell the tickets because I can bring the customers in,” Dinh said. “I didn’t know I could not sell the tickets. It is my bad luck.”