A man won big after a fight with his wife about where to go to dinner as the lotto ticket he purchased at the restaurant won him a whopping $266 million.
Gilbert Cisneros went to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue in Pico Rivera, California, with his wife after a dispute about where to go for dinner. But he left a multi-millionaire after buying a Mega Millions ticket at the restaurant in 2010.
"I didn't even know they sold lottery tickets there," he told KNSD. In total, the couple bought 10 tickets while at the restaurant.
The pair ended up at the Hawaiian restaurant after debating where to eat - news anchor wife Jacki Wells Cisneros wanted KFC, but Gilbert was in the mood for Mexican from Olvera Street.
Eventually, Gilbert settled on the BBQ place in Pico Rivera after being unable to find a good deal on parking around Olvera Street.
"I remembered having chicken at a Hawaiian BBQ before and thought, 'You know, that sounds pretty good'." said Gilbert.
Jacki was at work, on a night shift, when the news came through that the winning Mega Millions ticket had been bought at L&L Barbecue. She woke Gilbert up at home so he could check his ticket.
"He was reading the fourth and the fifth number and all of a sudden he said, 'I think we won'," said Jacki.
"My hand was shaking the phone, I went to hand up the phone and I was shaking, and my legs felt like they were going to buckle. I just screamed and cried, and laughed."
Gilbert initially wanted to keep his identity private. "It's two in the morning," he recalled, "I told her to calm down calm down.
"I told her to stop yelling, we want to be anonymous, I don't want anyone to know, but so much for that."
Jacki jumped straight on the phone to tell her co-worker just what the morning's top story would be.
"She called and said, 'Are you sitting down?' I said, 'I'm laying down, what's up?'" said David Reese.
"I thought something was on fire."
According to the couple, Gilbert had recently lost his job, and they planned to set up an estate plan for their mega jackpot winnings. They said they picked the numbers randomly.
The estimated jackpot was the eighth largest in the history of the game, which began in 2002. The odds of matching all five numbers and the Mega number is 1 in 175,711,536, according to the Mega Millions website.
In total, 28 tickets, had five numbers but didn't have the Mega number. Seven sold in California were each worth $179,428, while the other 21 were worth $250,000 according to California Lottery officials.
