Kristopher Chrysanthopoulous, a 20-year-old Rider University student from Oceanport, was home from school without a summer job when he noticed a sign for a $414 million prize for the Mega Millions lottery.

Instead of buying scratch-off tickets as he ordinarily does, the Shore Regional High School graduate threw in for a Mega Millions ticket at a convenience store connected to a Lukoil gas station on Shrewsbury Avenue in Tinton Falls. The ticket for the May 28 lottery sat in his wallet for a few days, lottery officials said Tuesday.

Around the time he bought that ticket, his dad wanted to have a sit-down with him about his prospects for summer employment, the officials said. The father invited him to lunch.

It was on the way to a restaurant that Chyrsanthopolous reached into his wallet, plucked out the ticket and checked it with the numbers on an app. He already knew no one had won the grand prize.

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And there it was, the ultimate summer dream realized. His ticket matched five of five white balls, but not the Gold Mega Ball that would haven netted him the entire jackpot.

His dad pulled over, checked the numbers and asked if it was a prank. They stopped at the closest lottery outlet and verified it.

According to the NJ Lottery, Chrysanthopolous said he wanted to take his family on a trip and put the rest into savings.

Ken Serrano: 732-643-4029; kserrano@gannettnj.com