Man plays lottery with fortune cookie lucky numbers, wins $1M

A Pennsylvania man learned that lucky numbers don't expire when he played the lottery using numbers from a years-old fortune cookie and won a million dollars, lottery officials announced Friday.

Ronnie Martin of Long Pond, Penn., stopped at a gas station in New Jersey on one of his daily drives to the state for work and bought three lottery tickets one night in July, according to the New Jersey lottery. He played with the numbers from an old fortune cookie because he liked them and wanted to stick with them, lottery officials said.

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When Martin scanned the tickets the next day to see if he'd won, one displayed a message reading "see clerk."

The clerk, Gary, reportedly recognized Ronnie, a regular at the gas station, and told him he must be the million dollar prize winner.

Ronnie Martin and his wife Shirley won the lottery in New Jersey. Click through the gallery to see lucky lottery locations in the Bay Area. Ronnie Martin and his wife Shirley won the lottery in New Jersey. Click through the gallery to see lucky lottery locations in the Bay Area. Photo: New Jersey Lottery Photo: New Jersey Lottery Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close Man plays lottery with fortune cookie lucky numbers, wins $1M 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

But Martin thought Gary was messing with him, only believing him when Gary finally scanned the ticket and showed him the display.

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Martin and his wife Shirley will use the winnings to pay off their house and bills, and put the rest in savings, lottery officials said.

The Garden State is a treasure trove of stories of unlikely lottery winners. In January of this year, a New Jersey woman won $5 million with a scratch-off ticket she'd purchased by accident. Another New Jersey woman won a quarter million dollars while playing slots on her smartphone during a work conference call in August.

Martin's winning ticket was purchased — appropriately — in Hope Township, N.J.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter