Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : Lottery’s Biggest Loser Gets ‘Advance’ Tickets

The California state lottery has given Jim DeSantis eight more chances to win.

DeSantis is the Huntington Beach man who has played the same six numbers since the 6/49 drawing started--that is except for Nov. 18. That was the day he was called into work early, and that was the day those numbers were drawn for an $8-million jackpot.

On Monday, lottery officials met DeSantis, a foreman in The Times’ Orange County composing room, and gave him eight “Advance Play” jackpot tickets. The tickets had his lucky number--44-12-39-36-2-47--and came from the 7-Eleven where he buys his tickets every day, just a block from his Huntington Beach home.

“I still think I’m going to win,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis was the first recipient of the new policy, which allow players to buy Lotto jackpot tickets up to eight draws in advance. The Lotto draws are every Wednesday and Saturday.

DeSantis has bought a lottery ticket every day since the day he nearly became a millionaire.

In fact, he went on vacation to Arizona last week and took no chances. DeSantis asked a friend to buy his weekly tickets. He said that if “Advance Play” had been in effect on that fateful day, “it could have helped.”

The owners of the 7-Eleven store, who moved to Orange County 17 years ago from England, were disappointed as well. As retailers of the Lotto tickets, the franchise is entitled to a one-half of 1% of the winnings.

The 7-Eleven Corp. would have received $45,000, of which the franchise owners, Ted and Mary Jackson, would have taken $22,000.

Mary Jackson said, “We would have flown to England on the Concorde.”