First Top Prize From California Lottery’s First $40 Game
SACRAMENTO – The California Lottery sold its first-ever top-prize-winning 40 Years of Play! Scratchers game, giving one lucky player a grand prize of $15 million! The California Lottery released its 40th anniversary-themed Scratchers® game, 40 Years of Play!, on January 20, 2025.
Created to honor 2025 as the 40th year since voters created the California Lottery, the celebratory game boasts prizes from $40 to $15 million and overall odds of winning of less than 1 in 3. Who is the Winner? California Lottery winners’ names are part of the public record in this state. In February, Israel Martin Rodriguez uncovered the very first top prize from the 40 Years of Play! game, which came from the 7-Eleven on the corner of Oxnard Street and Woodman Avenue in Van Nuys.
The luck isn’t exclusive to the game’s purchaser. The store that sold the winning game also gets a bonus. Because the prize was worth $15 million, the bonus is $75,000 for the 7-Eleven. In-store Check-a-ticket result for 40 Years of Play! purchased in Van Nuys Not long after Rodriguez joined the 40th anniversary celebration with his win, one more top prize for the $40 Scratchers game was sold. Soon, the California Lottery will be releasing the name of the winner and location that sold the winning game.
As of now, that means there are three remaining prizes of the original five waiting to be uncovered and claimed. For those who enjoy California Lottery games and want to join in the 40th anniversary celebration but aren’t ready to wager $40, the 40 Years of Play! series also includes a $2 version of the Scratchers game with a top prize of $40,000. There are more details on both commemorative games and others at calottery.com/scratchers.
It’s not just the 40 Years of Play! winners celebrating the California Lottery’s 40th anniversary this year. Margarito Gonzales Cortes hit it big with a Triple Red 777 Scratchers worth $1 million, picked up from Eastridge Liquor at 1855 Tully Road in San Jose. Enrique Baldoni was crowned a winner with a $5-million-winning Cash King Scratchers from the Ralphs in Seal Beach on Seal Beach Blvd. Fidencio Duran Macias spelled out a big win with the $7 million top prize from a Crossword Xtreme Scratchers purchased at the Lifeline Liquor Market in Huntington Beach.
Since 1985, the California Lottery has fulfilled its mission of providing supplemental funding to public education while paying more than $90 billion to Lottery winners in every corner of the state. Out of the $154.4 billion in revenue generated by California Lottery sales over the past 40 years, over 95%, a total of $147.3 billion, returned to the community in retailer compensation, contributions to education, and prize payouts.
