JACKSONVILLE — Lottery players in this historic mining town have struck gold once again, officials say.
A Megabucks lottery ticket worth $7.4 million has been purchased in Jacksonville, though no one had come forward to claim it as of Friday, says Chuck Baumann, spokesman for the Oregon Lottery.
Last Wednesday's win is the third multi-million dollar lottery prize awarded to players who purchased tickets in Jacksonville since 2001.
"Jacksonville's the place to buy your ticket," Baumann said.
Baumann would not say which of two possible sites — Ray's Food Place or the J-ville Tavern — the ticket had been purchased at.
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Local speculation is favoring Ray's Food Place as the lucky location.
But Ray's manager Randy Lewis says he doesn't know if the win came from his store.
Lottery tickets have vendor numbers which identify their place of purchase, but the store does not keep track of the winning numbers or the tickets sold, Lewis said.
"We won't know until the winner claims their prize," said Lewis.
J-Ville Tavern owner Bud Gough says odds should favor the market.
"That's natural thinking because they sell more tickets than we do," said Gough.
Still, another win at his establishment "would be fantastic," he added.
"All we can do is wait and find out," said Gough.
The store and tavern owners have more than just a passing interest in where the ticket was purchased. The site that sold the winning ticket will get a 1 percent share of the prize — $76,000, in this case. Lottery rules limit the seller's prize to a maximum of $100,000.
There are two basic reasons winners make delayed claims, Baumann said.
"One is that they don't know they won," he said. "The other reason is they're out getting legal advice. We like it to be the second reason. That means they're coming in with a plan. We like to see that."
The winners have until Sept 6, 2007 to claim their prize.
"They have one year from the date of the drawing," Lewis said.
Jacksonville has played host to two previous multimillion-dollar winners — Wayne Reavis, who won the $8.75 million Megabucks jackpot in 2001 after purchasing a ticket at the J-Ville Tavern, and Steve and Carolyn West and Bob and Frances Chaney, who won a record $340 million Powerball jackpot on a ticket bought at Ray's Food Place last October. In the same Powerball drawing, another Jacksonville couple won more than $850,000 on a ticket also purchased at Ray's.
Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 776-4497 or e-mail sspecht@mailtribune.com.
