Costa Mesa Quick-Picker Hits $12.6-Million Lottery Jackpot

At just $1 a dream, Joe Spadafore’s customers can afford to dream big.

But for one of his customers, it’s no dream. Someone who bought a ticket at his store soon can become a multimillionaire by claiming a winning Super Lotto ticket worth more than $12.6 million.

“Isn’t it worth a few bucks to dream a little?” Spadafore said of the awaiting fortune.

The unknown winner purchased 10 computerized Quick Pick tickets Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Bay Crest Spirits and Wine Shop on 17th Street. No one had come forward to claim the ticket by Thursday evening.

“You can’t win if you don’t play,” said Spadafore, 40, of Laguna Niguel, echoing the Super Lotto motto.

And he should know.

Bay Crest Spirits, a 40-year-old liquor store that Spadafore purchased in 1990, has sold two other winning tickets since 1989.

But this week’s jackpot far eclipses the tickets worth $3 million and $6 million sold in 1989 and 1990, Spadafore said.

“On real big (jackpot days), it’s a big pain in the butt,” he said. “We line them up outside the door.”

The biggest lines were in 1991, when the jackpot soared to $118 million. “They knew we’d sold a couple of winners,” he said.

Most people spend an average of $5 on tickets together with a six-pack of beer, but “the real hard-core ones spend up to $1,000,” he added. “They like to gamble, I guess.”

Spadafore? His limit is $50 a month.

“It could happen, I guess, but I don’t count on it,” he said.

Still, the slim chance of winning--one in 18 million--seems less daunting since winners come and go at his store.

“I had the $12-million winning ticket in my hand and I sold it for $10!” he said.

Spadafore said the store was among the top 50 best-selling retailers in the state when he bought it in 1990.

There are now about 22,000 retailers selling lottery tickets in California, according Bob Taylor, a spokesman for the California lottery. Spadafore’s store was not among the top 100 sellers as of this year, he said. He did not have figures for previous years.

Each retailer makes 6% of each ticket sold. Last year, ticket sales at Spadafore’s store grossed $300,000.

On winning tickets, retailers receive one-half of 1% of the total amount won, Taylor said.

Bay Crest will receive $63,000 from this week’s jackpot.

If the ticket holder claims the prize within 180 days, he will receive an annuity of $454,320 a year after taxes, Taylor said.

“Having someone come in the first day is unusual,” he said. “But if the ticket isn’t claimed, the money rolls into the California education fund.”

The winning numbers are: 18, 20, 34, 40, 47, 48.