Cloverdale man – Fernando Ayala, who immigrated to California from Mexico 40 years ago, bought a ticket at a Cloverdale Quick Stop and struck a $15 million scratch-off jackpot—after using $40 winnings from the day before to return to the same store for another play.
For Fernando Ayala, the luck didn’t arrive all at once. It showed up in two steps—first as a $40 win, then as a ticket that would change everything.
Ayala, who immigrated to California from Mexico 40 years ago, bought a Royal Jackpot Scratchers ticket at a Cloverdale Quick Stop earlier this year. The prize: $15 million.
Daniel Kelly. public information officer for the California Lottery. said Thursday. May 28. that the details mattered as much as the amount. Kelly said Ayala used his $40 winnings from a ticket he’d bought the previous day to buy the winning $15 million ticket at the same store at 601 N. Cloverdale Blvd.
“We always like these stories,” Kelly said. “Sometimes it only takes two, the first one was on us.”
Ayala told California Lottery officials that the multimillion-dollar jackpot feels like a reward for a lifetime of hard labor. He said he had never made “this kind of money.”
He also looked back to where his life in the U.S. began—coming from Mexico when he was just 12 years old. Ayala recalled sleeping “by the river and washed dishes for years.”
In the years that followed, he said he built a life here, marrying and raising a son. When he spoke with the California Lottery, he said he plans to enjoy the winnings with his family.
He didn’t just describe the prize as a random win. He told lottery officials he believes the $15 million ticket was waiting for him all night before he returned to the store.
The ticket Ayala played—Royal Jackpot Scratchers—belongs to the California Lottery’s $40 games, which include the commemorative “40 Years of Play!” scratchers.
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