Big Lotto Winners Angling to Retire

Rose Briscoe says she usually buys five Lotto tickets, sometimes seven, her lucky number. But on Valentine’s Day, the Tustin resident bought 10, and it was that 10th bet that held a winning combination for the largest jackpot in California history.

“It’s just fate,” Briscoe, 45, said at a news conference Saturday in Santa Ana, where state lottery officials introduced her and her husband, Paul, 49.

The Orange County couple held one of three winning tickets for the Feb. 16 SuperLotto Plus jackpot and will share the $193-million prize. A Northern California man was the first to claim his portion. A third winner, who bought a ticket in Montebello, had not yet stepped forward.

The Briscoes, dressed casually and accompanied by friends and family, were smiling Saturday morning as they clutched a mock check for $64.3 million, their portion if they had chosen to be paid in 26 annual installments. Instead, they opted for the lump-sum cash payment, which means they will receive nearly $33 million before taxes.

But there were no immediate visions of mansions and fancy cars for the new millionaires, who said they plan to ease into their new lives. “We are just modest people,” Rose Briscoe said.

Her husband, striking a more serious note during the jolly press conference, said, “You’ve still got to keep life in perspective. You can’t change the way you live your life and the way you treat other people.... You have to be the same person you were before you won the lottery.”

But some things inevitably will change. The couple, who have an adult daughter from Paul’s previous marriage, said they will quit their jobs soon. Both work for Los Angeles County as administrators. They have continued to work, the couple said, and will help their departments find their replacements.

Then they will embark on a “premature retirement,” Paul Briscoe said, and pursue their interests: travel and fishing.

The anglers got engaged on Valentine’s Day nine years ago in Pismo Beach, and every year they celebrate with a fishing trip to the same spot.

Two weeks ago, as the lottery jackpot swelled to a record, the couple were preparing for their annual sojourn.

On Valentine’s Day, Rose walked into a 7-Eleven in Orange. “I love their hot chocolate,” she said. She also bought 10 lottery tickets.

Meanwhile, her husband, whose past luck includes some meager lottery winnings and a $12,500 video poker jackpot in Las Vegas three years ago, bought five more tickets at another store.

The next day, they left for Pismo Beach, where Paul bought 10 more tickets, not knowing, he said, “we already had the winning ticket.”

Searching Their Tickets for Winning Numbers

Saturday evening, the two settled in their hotel room to watch the Winter Olympics. During the broadcast, the station flashed the winning Lotto numbers.

Paul pulled out his 15 tickets and quickly saw he hadn’t won. Rose checked her stub with the 10 sets of numbers and spotted the winning Mega Number, 20, in the last row. The numbers looked instantly familiar, she said, but she couldn’t remember one of the winning set.”What was the third number?” she asked her husband. “What was the third number?”

It was 31.

“We were just in shock,” Paul Briscoe said. “We slept three hours that night. Your adrenaline just runs.”

The next day they went to a local store and rechecked the numbers. They also bought some Scratchers to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Paul placed the winning ticket in a plastic pouch that had held his fishing license, and they returned home on Presidents Day.

They waited to alert lottery officials. During Saturday’s news conference, the couple were often cautious, declining to detail their investment or charitable plans.

Rose recalled seeing television news shows last week that focused on the 7-Eleven in Orange and speculated about the winner.

“It was very strange watching news reports that you are directly involved in,” she said. “It’s kind of unsettling, actually.

“It is an unfathomable amount of money.”