$1M Scratchers Ticket Sold At RivCo Smoke Shop

DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA — It was New Year's Eve when Desert Hot Springs resident Justin Beattie test drove into the Smoke Depot in an aging Toyota, bought a $10 Scratchers ticket with some old game card winnings, and scratched his way to $ 1 million.

Beattie has bought numerous Scratchers game cards at the Desert Hot Springs Smoke Depot for over 27 years, a spokesperson for the CA Lottery said. He took $9 in Scratchers winnings to help purchase a $10 Triple Red 777 game card at the smoke shop located at 14232 Palm Drive.

Beattie described how he won and his "scratching system."

"I usually scratch the winning numbers, and then scratch my numbers one at a time until I reach the bottom," Beattie said.

With 22 chances to win, he scratched his way down to the last row with a growing sense that perhaps he'd played a losing game when, near the end, he matched the number 11.

"I only reveal the prize if I have a match," Beattie said.

Surprised and curious, he returned inside the store and had a cashier scan the ticket for him. The scanner verified he matched the winning number for a $1 million prize.

Hazeem Irshad, a worker at the Smoke Depot, was there when Beattie realized the big win. He spoke with Patch about the day.

"He came in and told us right away that he may have won. It was super exciting for him and for us," Irshad said. Unsure if the store got a big check with the winnings, he laughed, saying, "Well, we got a new lottery machine out of it."

The store has returned to business as usual, but Irshad wanted to express their good wishes to Beattie on the win.

"He's a really nice guy, and we're glad he was the one who bought that winning Scratchers game card."

Fun fact! According to Lottery spokesperson Daniel Kelly, as of Wednesday, there are only two remaining top prizes for $100 Million Mega Cash Scratchers, according to our website.

Good luck scratching your way to a million!