You'll Never Guess Why It Took So Long for This Lottery Winner to Come Forward

From the California Lottery:

As a player, doesn’t it drive you crazy when you learn that someone hit the lottery, but doesn’t step forward to quickly claim their prize? It’s been nearly a week since a ticket sold in North Hollywood matched five out of six numbers in the Mega Millions drawing on Oct.14. So why on earth would someone wait so long to bring it in and claim their $255,171?

Are you ready for this? Farhad Opiani told us he knew the very next day that he had won more than a quarter of a million dollars. He even signed the back of his ticket (pictured below) and put it in his wallet, because he “wanted to see what it would feel like to have that kind of money in my pocket.”

We aren’t kidding. He claims he’s been carrying that ticket around for the heck of it!

Now that he’s crossed that experience off his bucket list, Opiani might tackle a couple of other goals. “Thanks to the Lottery I can make a good down payment. Get my mortgage really low,” Opiani said about a condo he’s been considering. As for the rest of the money? “I’d love to have a restaurant,” Opiani said. Something else he’s always wanted to do.

Opiani bought his Mega Millions ticket at the 7-Eleven located at 7568 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood (Los Angeles County). It correctly matched the numbers 46, 37, 64, 11 and 68, missing only the Mega number of 15.

A reminder, tomorrow night’s Mega Millions jackpot has grown to an estimated $200 million! The California Lottery reminds winners to sign the back of their ticket in ink, keep it in a safe place and visit any of the nine Lottery District Offices as soon as possible.

Mega Millions is played in California (and 43 other states, plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Draw times are Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:00 p.m. PST. Tickets are $1 and can be purchased from any of the more than 21,000 California Lottery retailers or one of the more than 4,000 Lottery Lucky Retailers Please visit the California Lottery’sMega Millions site for more information on how to play.

PHOTO Patch file photo.

COMMENT ON THIS STORY BY SCROLLING TO FIND THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW.

Wondering how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.