Six California lottery players just turned a routine Fantasy 5 week into a statewide winning streak, snagging more than $540,000 in total payouts from nightly drawings that produced big winners from Encinitas to Eureka, plus San Diego, Delano and Perris. The hottest moment came in the Feb. 17 draw, when three tickets hit all five numbers and triggered six-figure payouts, with more top prizes rolling in over the next few days and briefly putting a handful of neighborhood retailers in the spotlight.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the three players who matched all five numbers on Feb. 17 each scored $101,279. Those top tickets were sold at Farr Better Spirits in Encinitas, a Chevron station on Broadway in Eureka and Magic Market in San Diego. The Bee also reports that Hilltop Liquor in San Diego sold a ticket that matched all five numbers on Feb. 18 for $67,986, and that two more all-five tickets sold on Feb. 20 at Fastrip Food Store in Delano and La Guadalupana Market in Perris each paid $84,903. In all, lottery officials told the Bee that six players walked away with more than $540,000 in Fantasy 5 prizes in the span of a week.
How Fantasy 5 payouts work
Fantasy 5 is a $1 daily draw game with relatively friendly odds for a jackpot-style lottery: matching all five numbers carries about a one-in-575,757 chance, according to the California Lottery. The advertised top prize usually starts somewhere between roughly $60,000 and $80,000 and is split evenly among players when more than one ticket matches all five numbers in the same draw. The Lottery notes that prizes of $599 and under can be cashed at participating retailers, while larger wins have to be claimed at a Lottery district office or by mail. Winners get 180 days from the date of the drawing to file a claim.
Help and what winners should do
Anyone holding a possible winner is urged to sign the back of the ticket immediately, keep it somewhere safe and verify it, either by scanning it with the California Lottery mobile app or having a retailer check it. If gambling is starting to feel less like fun and more like a problem for you or someone close to you, confidential help is available through the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700, which also offers text and chat options, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. For step-by-step instructions on claiming larger prizes and to review the latest draw results, players should use the official Lottery website and follow the listed claim procedures.
Small retailers that sell top-prize tickets typically enjoy a brief wave of attention, and the Fantasy 5 winners who bought tickets at those shops now have months to decide how to collect and whether to reveal their identities publicly. If you bought a Fantasy 5 ticket for those February drawings and have not checked it yet, compare your numbers with the official results through your retailer or the Lottery app and follow the claim directions provided by the Lottery. The week’s payouts are a fresh reminder that a $1 play on Fantasy 5 can still deliver life-changing, if relatively modest, wins across California.
