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Mega Disappointment

December 20, 2013

Korean woman who sold one of the two winning Mega Million jackpot tickets 

gets no bonus as “Georgia lottery rules provide no retailer payout” 

Owner Young Soolee tends the counter at her small Alliance Center office bulding newsstand on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in Atlanta, after lottery officials said one of two winning Mega Millions lottery tickets were purchased from her store in Tuesday's $636 million drawing, The store owner said she sold 1300 lottery tickets on Tuesday rather than the normal sales of about 100 tickets. (AP Photo/David Tulis)

Owner Young Soolee tends the counter at her small Alliance Center office bulding newsstand on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in Atlanta, after lottery officials said one of two winning Mega Millions lottery tickets were purchased from her store for Tuesday’s $636 million drawing. The store owner said she sold 1300 lottery tickets on Tuesday rather than the normal sales of about 100 tickets. (AP Photo / David Tulis)

 

Jenny's Gift Shop owner Thuy Nguyen, right, accepts a $1 million check from California lottery sales representative Mona Sanders Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in San Jose, Calif. Two lucky winning tickets were sold in Tuesday's near-record $636 million Mega Millions drawing: one at a tiny newsstand in Atlanta, and the other more than 2,000 miles away in California. huy Nguyen, says he doesn't know who the bought the winning ticket, but it's likely someone he knows, as most of his customers are his friends. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Jenny’s Gift Shop owner Thuy Nguyen, right, accepts a $1 million check from California lottery sales representative Mona Sanders Wednesday, on Dec. 18, 2013, in San Jose, California. Two lucky winning tickets were sold in Tuesday’s near-record $636 million Mega Millions drawing: one at a tiny newsstand in Atlanta, and the other more than 2,000 miles away in California. Thuy Nguyen, says he doesn’t know who the bought the winning ticket, but it’s likely someone he knows, as most of his customers are his friends. (AP Photo / Ben Margot)

Meanwhile, San Jose retailer gets his check for $1 million from California Lottery

The Korean woman who sold one of the two $636 Mega-Million jackpot ticket wasn’t lucky after all.

Young Soo Lee – the small newsstand owner from Atlanta, Georgia was overjoyed when a CNN reporter told her that she was legally entitled to a portion of the winnings – probably about one million dollars, but it quickly turned out not to be true. According to spokeswoman Tandy Reddick, “Georgia lottery rules provide no retailer payout. Retailers get a flat six percent commission on the sales of the $1 tickets themselves, but no bonus for a winning ticket.”

“They do have the distinction of being known as the lucky store now, and that’s always great news for them,” Reddick added.

But, the 37-year old Vietnamese man who sold the other winning ticket, Thuy Nguyen of Jenny’s Gift Shop in San Jose, California, will indeed pocket one million dollars, thanks to California state law.

Just to show you how lucky he is – he had took over the business just four months ago.