‘Prankster’ shows wife winning CA lottery ticket. But it ‘was no joking matter’
A California man has a history of playing pranks on his wife.
So, when Eugene Brown handed a lottery ticket to his wife to confirm a big win, she shrugged it off, California Lottery officials said in a June 18 news release.
“Could you please take the garbage out?” she told him, according to lottery officials.
Little did his wife know, it “was no joking matter;” she was holding a lottery ticket worth millions.
Brown bought the $20 ticket while taking their toddler out for breakfast and a walk, lottery officials said.
On the way, he stopped at a Menifee gas station and purchased two Maximum Millions scratchers, lottery officials said.
While it’s a common stop for Brown, he told lottery officials he’s thankful he stopped when he did.
Had his wife not asked him to go out, he may “not have gone to the store,” Brown said.
“Or I would’ve gone later, and somebody else would’ve gotten the ticket,” Brown told lottery officials. “But everything lined up in the universe.”
When he returned home, he scratched his two tickets, lottery officials said.
While he won $75 on the first ticket, the win on his second ticket left him in “disbelief,” lottery officials said.
“Was it $5,000? Was it $50,000? He wasn’t sure,” lottery officials said.
Unsure, he asked his wife to check the ticket, lottery officials said.
“Babe,” Brown said he asked her, “could you take a look at this?”
“It’s $5 million,” the wife said, unmoved by her “unrepentant prankster.”
“I’m not in the mood right now,” she said, according to lottery officials.
Brown, though, assured his wife he was serious; they had won one of the game’s three $5 million prizes.
“You’d better not be lying,” she told him.
Brown said he plans to use the winnings to pay off his home’s mortgage and put the rest in a trust for his children’s future.
“I’m not lucky,” Brown told lottery officials. “I’m blessed.”
Menifee is about an 80-mile drive southeast from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM with the headline "‘Prankster’ shows wife winning CA lottery ticket. But it ‘was no joking matter’."
