U.S. man wins $1M lotto by playing fortune cookie numbers

A Pennsylvania man’s love for Chinese food has seemingly paid off after he hit a $1 million jackpot by playing the numbers from an old fortune cookie.

Ronnie Martin said he’s been playing the same numbers from a fortune cookie he cracked open several years ago and they finally paid off after collecting a $1-million cash prize in the massive $543-million Powerball drawing back in the summer, according to local ABC 7 News.

Martin had been buying lotto tickets from the same gas station he passes daily to and from work. When Martin went to check his ticket at the self-serve scanner, it displayed a message saying “see clerk.”

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Since the man was a regular to the gas station, Gary, the store’s clerk, recognized Martin and said he must be a winner.

“You’ve got the million dollar ticket!” the clerk said, according to the news station.

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Martin said he thought Gary was messing with him, and asked to him scan the ticket a second time. Sure enough, Martin was $1 million richer.

In June, a Virginia couple won $100,000 after they said the played the lotto with numbers from a fortune cookie, according to WTVR News.

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A Virginia Lottery spokesperson told the news station that a woman “was dusting when she found a fortune cookie. She showed it to her husband and then decided to start playing the numbers from the cookie in the lottery.”

They hit the jackpot on a May 26 Cash 5 draw.