A Kentucky man says he “went to bed a millionaire and didn’t even know it.” George Cerveny played the mega millions lottery drawing on Tuesday night, and even though he knew he had hit on a few numbers, he also knew he missed the Megaball number and reportedly went to bed like any other night.
Cerveny spoke with Kentucky lottery officials, saying he did not think much about the drawing on Tuesday night. While speaking to officials, he noticed that his attention was placed so firmly on hitting the Megaball that once he saw that he missed that number despite seeing the winning numbers, he thought, “OK, time to go to bed.”
However, Cerveny realized on Wednesday morning that he had hit on all five white ball numbers. Matching all five white ball numbers on the Mega Millions drawing is worth $1 Million. The latest Mega Millions winner effectively went to sleep, unaware that he had just become a millionaire.
Throughout the years, Cerveny has been buying lottery tickets at the same Circle K gas station in Corbin and says that after a decade, he has never won anything more than a few bucks. While many people play random numbers or different systems of moving numbers, Cerveny says, “I’ve played the same numbers for years, and this morning, I got a phone call from one of my employees saying, ‘Hey, call Circle K. The manager’s trying to get a hold of you.'” After more than ten years of playing the exact numbers, Cerveny’s method has finally paid off.
On Wednesday, the Mega Millions winner and his wife drove to Kentucky Lottery Headquarters to claim the winnings. After the inevitable taxes were withheld, the unaware millionaire and his spouse were presented with a check worth $715,000. It’s not the wrong way to start the day.
When asked what Cerveny plans to do with his unexpected winnings, he spoke about being able to pay off some longstanding debts and taking a vacation. Specifically, Cerveny told the media, “We’re going to get out of debt. That’s probably the answer for most people, but we’ll get out of debt and not worry about it.” The still surprised and excited winner added, “and figure out a nice vacation,” which is likely what many other people would do.
While most individuals, Cerveny included, could never imagine going to bed with their current average income and persistent debts, only to wake up a millionaire in the morning, it shows that sticking to your methods can pay off as you genuinely never know what surprises lay ahead. For their role in selling the winning ticket, the Circle K location in Corbin, where Cerveny made the fortunate purchase, is due to receive a gracious check for $10,000—a truly positive story for everyone involved.
