For years a South Florida man has been scratching off lotto tickets, hoping for that lucky break. Eric Muller, Sr.’s luck finally changed recently when his lottery ticket hit and he won a million dollars.
Muller said he bought a $25 ticket at a Pompano Beach liquor store. When he figured out he hit the jackpot, he said he’s gone from living paycheck-to-paycheck, to making investments for the future.
Muller told NBC 6 that he got the ticket and began to scratch off his numbers. When he finally saw that he had the winning numbers, he said he had to get confirmation that what he was seeing was actually happening.
“I was in shock. I had to run back inside the store,” Muller said. “I asked the guy, I said, 'Am I dreaming? Am I hallucinating?'"
The new million-dollar man said he is modest and he sat on the ticket for two weeks. He said he’s already back at work and his family actually just found out about the jackpot Wednesday.
“You just told me when you came to the house today,” Eric Muller, Jr. told NBC 6 reporter Jamie Guirola. “He told me he was going up to Tallahassee for real estate.”
Muller said he didn’t have a bank account before he hit the jackpot. He said in the past that when he lived paycheck-to-paycheck, he always “had to make sure I was at work, regardless if I was sick or not.” But that time has definitely changed for Muller.
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“It’s a game-changer,” Muller, Sr. said. “The first words out of my mouth is, ‘I’m quitting.’ And then I realized the money has got to work for you before you take it easy.”
Muller opted for the lump sum payment. After taxes, Muller pulled in more than $745,000 from his lucky scratch-off ticket. After paying off his debts, Muller said he plans to invest the rest of the money.
Based on scratch-off ticket sales, Muller isn’t the only one who may hit it big. Scratch-off tickets make up 64 percent of ticket sales and generated roughly $640 million for education last year.
