Lottery Refused To Pay $5 Million Because A 16-Year-Old Bought The Ticket

Here’s what happened. On October 16, 2016, Ward Thomas of Long Beach, California, sent his 16-year-old son, Benjamin, into a Mobil station on Bellflower Boulevard with 12 winning “Deluxe 7’s” Scratchers worth $330. It was a simple enough errand: trade the winnings for five new $20 tickets and bring home the remaining $230.

Then came the stuff of fantasy for lottery players.

At home that night, Thomas scratched the tickets and found a “100X The Money” ticket carrying a staggering $5 million prize. He validated it at a Long Beach 7-Eleven at about 9:54 p.m., then had it validated again at the California Lottery’s Santa Ana district office the following day. According to his lawsuit, officials initially confirmed that he had a winning ticket.

Consequently, the Thomas family believed they’d hit the jackpot.

Then California Said: Not So Fast

On December 5, the dream collapsed. The California Lottery denied Thomas’ claim because Benjamin, not his father, was the one who went to the store and purchased the winning ticket. Benjamin was 16.

Thomas argued that his son was acting as his agent and that the store never asked for identification or warned him that minors could not purchase lottery tickets. And therein laid the legal heart of the dispute.

The gas station had its own, considerably less sympathetic version. In its 2018 countersuit, Bilabob Inc. alleged Benjamin had used a fake driver’s license claiming he was an adult and had previously cashed a $1,000 winning ticket at the same store. It also alleged Ward knew his son was buying tickets.

Five Million Dollars, Zero Payout

Thomas sued in July 2017. But in February 2018, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry Green dismissed his claims against California and the Lottery Commission. He ruled that the law permitted adults, not minors, to buy lottery tickets, and the age restriction existed to protect children from gambling. Thomas should just have gone to the store and bought his own tickets that Sunday in October 2016.

Thomas’ lawyers had offered an inventive argument. The judge acknowledged that creativity, but rejected it. Benjamin could not simply borrow his father’s legal eligibility because he was acting for him.

And that is how a $20 Scratchers ticket became a $5 million legal mirage. The ticket was real. The winning symbols were real. The validations were real. The money, however, never arrived.

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Aug 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.