PHOTO BY MASSACHUSETTS STATE LOTTERY
By THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — William Gendron of Lynn is the first $1 million prize winner in the Massachusetts State Lottery’s new “100X” instant game that launched last month.
The winning ticket was purchased at Norm’s Variety on Eastern Avenue. Roger Patel, the store owner, said he wasn’t present when the ticket was sold last week, but one of his employees told him Gendron bought a single ticket for $10 and scratched it in the store.
“He asked the employee to verify if the ticket was really a $1 million winner,” Patel said. “He was shaking when we told him it was.”
This is the first time Patel has sold a $1 million winning ticket.
“I’ve been here for 15 years and it’s never happened,” he said. “The man who owned it before me had the store for 35 years and he never had a $1 million winner.”
Gendron chose the cash option on the prize and received a one-time payment of $650,000, less taxes, the Lottery said. The store wins too. They receive a $10,000 bonus for its sale.
Four $4 million prizes and 14 prizes of $1 million are still available in the instant game.
Gendron could not be reached for comment.
Thomas Grillo can be reached at tgrillo@itemlive.com.