TRENTON (July 2, 2025) – Lightning might not strike twice, but Lottery jackpots apparently do in New Jersey.

The storms that have pummeled most of the Garden State this week have been nothing short of biblical in performance. Booming thunder, snapping lightning, high wind and heavy rain have kept residents seeking shelter. However, a New Jersey Lottery player braved the elements this week, bought a ticket at the grocery store in the ShopRite complex at 2202 NJ-66 in Neptune and matched all five numbers to win the $446,593 Jersey Cash 5 jackpot on Tuesday.

The Saker family’s Monmouth County complex is accustomed to big wins. As many Lottery players know, ShopRite’s liquor store, next to the grocery, captured national attention when it sold the winning ticket for the $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot on March 26, 2024. The odds of winning a Mega Millions jackpot are roughly 1 in 290 million. The Jersey Cash 5’s jackpot odds are about 1 in 1.2 million.

The winning numbers Tuesday were 03, 14, 23, 28 and 30. The XTRA was 02 and the Bullseye was 14. The jackpot is the game’s 34th won this year, and the retailer will receive a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

The winning player visits the ShopRite weekly to buy a few days’ worth of draws and is well aware of last year’s billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot.

“I’m very grateful for what I have gotten,” the player said. “I can’t breathe, I have to exhale! I can’t even focus today.”

Despite the nerves and difficult odds, the player is not surprised.

“I am a very perceptive person. I told myself that I’m going to hit the lottery real soon. It’s a dream come true.”

The New Jersey Lottery partners with more than 6,500 retailers. Instances of retailers selling multiple big prizes are rare, but they do happen. The Neptune ShopRite isn’t the only retailer to have multiple big draw game wins this decade.

The ShopRite of Spotswood, 380 Summerhill Road in Middlesex County sold two Jersey Cash 5 jackpots in the last two months: a $249,000 win on May 10 and a $408,109 share of a split jackpot with another retailer on June 14.

White Oak Liquors, 418 Union Avenue, Bellville, Essex, has had a hat trick of big wins since 2020: $617,000, Jersey Cash 5, April 29, 2024; $1.25 million, Jersey Cash Five, Nov. 23, 2021; and $4.9 million, Pick-6, Jan. 16, 2020.

Other retailers since 2020 have sold multiple draw prizes exceeding $500,000. They are:

• 7-Eleven, 1 Kinderkamack Road, Montvale, Bergen County
  $881,079, Jersey Cash 5, Feb 22, 2023
  $4 million, Mega Millions, June 20, 2025
• Emerson Stationery, 191 Kinderkamack Road, Emerson, Bergen
  $511,895, Jersey Cash 5, June 15, 2021
  $1 million, Mega Millions, Jan 19, 2024
• Exxon, 4150 US Highway 1, Monmouth Junction, Middlesex
  $1.1 million, Jersey Cash 5, May 24, 2021
  $1 million, Powerball, Jan. 20, 2021
• Luigi Market, 424 Dover Road, South Toms River, Ocean
  $4 million, Mega Millions, July 23, 2024
  $719,364, Jersey Cash 5, June 13, 2022
• Quick Mart, 155 Lakeview Ave., Clifton, Passaic
  $1.75 million, Jersey Cash 5, Sept. 4, 2020
  $1 million, Powerball, Jan. 23, 2021
• ShopRite #604, 2 Route 37 West, Toms River, Ocean
  $874,115, Jersey Cash 5, Jan. 14, 2021
  $635,935, Jersey Cash 5, Feb. 25, 2022
• Superfood Fresh Supermarket, 738 Union Avenue, Middlesex
  $722,320, Jersey Cash 5, Sept 23, 2022
  $616,258, Jersey Cash 5, Sept. 8, 2023
• Smoker’s Outlet, 123 W. Clements Bridge, Runnemede, Camden
  $758,235, Jersey Cash 5, Jan. 17, 2022
  $2 million, Powerball, Feb. 28, 2024
• Laurel Market, 257 Laurel Avenue, Hazlet Township, Monmouth
  $1 million, Jersey Cash 5, May 15, 2024
  $4 million, Mega Millions, July 24, 2024
• Soda King, 300 Gordons Corner Road Manalapan, Monmouth
  $3.7 million, Pick-6, Feb. 16, 2023
  $1 million, June 29, 2024