Mom thought she won $2,000 on California lottery scratcher. She missed a few zeros

While sitting in her car outside a California doughnut shop, Ruby Evans scratched her lottery tickets.

She thought she won $2,000 on one of them, California Lottery officials said in a May 25 news release.

Excited to claim her “sweet amount of money,” Evans headed back inside the Compton doughnut shop, officials said.

As the owner of Sweet Time Donuts scanned her Instant Prize Crossword ticket, three extra zeros popped on screen, according to lottery officials.

Evans hadn’t won $2,000, but rather “the game’s top prize” — $2 million, according to lottery officials.

“This is a big blessing,” Evans told lottery officials. “It’s given me a chance to pay off my bills, my mortgage and help my daughters.”

This is Evans’ third time bringing home a big win in 10 years, lottery officials said.

Lottery officials said Evans took home $100,000 playing a scratchers game in 2013.

She also recently won $5,000 playing Instant Prize Crossword at Sweet Time Donuts, lottery officials said, leaving her fellow customers teasing her about her consistent wins.

“They say, ‘Ruby, haven’t you won enough?’” Evans said. “’Save some winners for all of us.’”

Even with her seven-figure win, Evans said she doesn’t plan to stop playing lottery scratchers anytime soon.

“I’m having fun,” she said.

This story was originally published May 25, 2023 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Mom thought she won $2,000 on California lottery scratcher. She missed a few zeros."

Daniella Segura

McClatchy DC

Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she’s worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.