$5 Lotto Win Turns Into Million for S.D. Woman

A Mission Valley woman was one of 10 Californians to win $1 million from the California Lottery, officials announced Monday.

Mary June Orler, a medical social worker at Palomar Medical Center, told lottery officials she has no immediate plans for the money but she is thinking of taking her family on vacation to Ireland.

Orler purchased the winning “Quick Pick” Lotto ticket from a 7-Eleven Food Store at 10505 San Diego Mission Road, lottery spokeswoman Trisha Metzger said.

Orler, who is single but hedged on giving her age, told officials she usually plays about once or twice a month, but this time she had a special feeling that she might win.

The ticket was a match for three of the six numbers drawn Saturday night, which made her eligible for “Three for a Million,” a second drawing the same night using tickets that have three matching numbers.

Orler went back to the 7-Eleven on Sunday to claim her $5 for matching three winning numbers and was met by a lottery security guard who told her of her good fortune, said Metzger.

“She called her sister to pick her up because she said she was too nervous to drive but she forgot to tell her sister which 7-Eleven she was calling from,” Metzger said.

After taxes, Orler will receive $40,000 a year over 20 years. The other winners were from Watsonville, Lompoc, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Gardena, Pico Rivera, Miraloma, Salinas and Fairfield. The odds for matching three of the six winning numbers were 1 in 23 million, Metzger said. The odds for being one of the 10 were 1 in 20,000.