7 people have won at least $1 million on Connecticut lottery in 2026. Here’s where they got lucky

It turns out it pays to be lucky.

That’s true for the seven Connecticut residents who have won state lottery prizes of $1 million or more so far this year.

And it’s true for at least some of the gas stations and convenience stores that have sold those tickets, several of which have reported a rise in lottery sales after a customer hit it big, despite long odds for the top prizes.

That’s the case for the Plantsville Citgo location on Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike, where the most recent seven-figure winning ticket was purchased last month. 

A Southington couple claimed the $2 million top prize off a $20 ticket in the Mega Multiplier game, winning despite 1 in 900,000 odds.

Store manager Scott Brouker was working the counter at the Citgo when the winning customer, whom CT Lottery declined to identify, purchased a $30 ticket, along with the $20 slip that paid off.

Brouker said the lucky customer was in a state of shock when his ticket scanned with six zeros. The store, which received a $20,000 payout from the lottery for selling the ticket, had never had a win of that size, Brouker noted.

“He was just kind of starstruck, and he was very grateful,” Brouker said of the customer. “He definitely left here very, very excited.”

While the Mega Multiplier game ended at the beginning of this month, Brouker said the win has led to a steady stream of customers looking to tap into the store’s big win.

That includes many who are new to the store, and new to the lottery, he said, and stop by after reading about the win in the news. The store manager said he always encourages potential buyers to play, as “you don’t win if you don’t play.”

“People are asking about the ticket, and definitely purchasing different tickets, asking us which game is popular, or which one we recommend,” Brouker said. “Some are  just giving us the money and saying, ‘Here, pick a ticket,’ not at random, but a winner.”

Just within May, a Manchester resident also hit it big when he claimed a $2 million Fabulous Fortune ticket from a Mobil in Higganum. The win on a $30 ticket had slightly shorter odds than in Plantsville, with a 1 in 666,666.67 chance of winning the $2 million prize.

A worker at the convenience store who only gave his name as Harry confirmed that the shop had seen an increase in customers after selling the winning ticket, though he said he had no idea who had bought it, since the ticket was not scanned in-store.

“It’s a mystery, very hard to get all this information,” Harry said of the winner. “He’s as good as a ghost.”

Less than a five-minute drive down Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike from the winning Citgo is a Gulf Convenience Mart in Chesire that sold the biggest prize in the state so far this year: a $4 million Fortune scratch-off game in January.

The winner, a Tolland resident named Phil, had stopped at the station because it was large enough to accommodate his oversized trailer tow while he pumped gas, according to a release from CT Lottery.

He was the last of three winners to take home the top Fortune prize, with ultra-long odds of 1 in 1,333,333.33, before the game ended earlier this year.

Mini Jacob, the store manager at the Citgo, said she was “thrilled” when she found out her store had sold the ticket, which earned it a $40,000 bonus.

And the buzz following the state’s top lottery wins has extended from Plantsville to Fairfield, where a frequent customer won a $1 million jackpot on a $50 Best Chance To Be A Millionaire scratch-off ticket at a News Express in town.  

The customer had come into the store to cash a previous $1,000 scratch-off win when he hit even bigger on the ticket, overcoming 1 in 400,000 odds.

“It’s truly amazing,” Tejas Patel, the store’s owner, said at the time. “When a regular customer for 18-something years wins this grand prize, it makes it even more exciting.”

The store received a $10,000 payout from the sale, and Patel, like Brouker, said sales had picked up after the win.

“It happened to be the right place, right time, and right clerk,” Patel said with a laugh.