Ocean County Player Wins $1.88 Million Cash 5 Jackpot

TRENTON (Dec. 12, 2024) – Let’s be honest. We all do it. We’re in the office on a virtual call, and we get distracted by email. Maybe we open a message just because something catches our eye. It happens all the time.

What doesn’t always happen: The message carries news of nearly $2 million in Lottery winnings.

On Friday, Dec. 6, a Cash 5 player matched all five numbers to win the $1,883,824 prize. The winning numbers were: 07, 21, 28, 31 and 38, and the XTRA number was 02. The Bullseye number was 31. The ticket was played at Silverton Buyrite, 1922 Hooper Ave., Toms River in Ocean County. The retailer will receive a bonus of $2,000 for selling the winning ticket.

While the Lottery and news outlets were reporting on the following Monday that a big Cash 5 jackpot was hit, the winning player was at work like any other Monday. That’s when they saw a news item that reported on the results.

“I don’t play every day, but whenever I go to the store, I play $20 of Cash 5,” the player told the New Jersey Lottery on Tuesday, Dec. 10. “I’ll go two or three weeks without checking. So, I was working, checking my emails when I was on a call. I saw a notification from a Patch that said there was a Cash 5 winner. It also showed a picture of the liquor store. It was the store I bought my ticket at! I said to myself ‘No way!’ I then looked at the article, to see when the winner was. I was “Ohhhhkaaaay…No way!’”

The winner couldn’t wait for the call to conclude. So while on the call, they went to the car and pulled a couple weeks’ worth of tickets from the visor.

“I look at the numbers after my call. I looked at my first $10 worth of tickets. Not a winner. I put that one away. I see the other ticket and…Oh, my god. Those were the numbers.”

Still, seeing wasn’t quite yet believing.

“I pulled up the winning numbers on my laptop to make sure they were correct. I pretty much started crying,” the winner said. “Then, I drove to the store. They had a sign that said ‘Big winner sold here.’”

That was when the winner knew for sure.

“I went in and verified the ticket. It’s me! I am the winner.”

Up until now, this year hadn’t been a banner year for the winner.

“This year was really rough,” said the winner, who said that even though the ticket was a quick pick, four of the numbers carried a special, personal meaning. “Now this. It’s life changing. I am going to buy myself a house. I am using it as an investment for my retirement. I am still in shock.”