Orange County Woman Makes More Than $1M From Scratcher Tickets

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Third time's the charm.

This week, Yamilet Torrez of Santa Ana had a rather charmed life.

She won $100 on a scratcher two weeks ago. She took a few dollars of her winnings and bought another ticket last week, which garnered her $5,000.

Feeling lucky, and who wouldn't?, she took some of that money Monday and bought nine scratchers, including three "50X The Money" tickets.

CBS2's Michele Gile spoke to the 22-year-old lucky lady who credited her 6-year-old daughter with the big win.

Torrez purchased the winning $1 million ticket at Smoke Shop & Water in Garden Grove.

Yamilet had never been in the store before, but it is a few doors down from her daughter's dentist.

With her daughter sleeping in the back seat, Torrez scratched the last ticket at a red light.

"I was like 'Oh, my God! I just woke her up!,'" Torrez said upon winning, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"

She then told Gile she called her dad, breathless.

"Dad, dad!," she said before asking "Where are you?"

He said, "I'm eating."

She then told him she'd won $1 million.

He said, "Oh, good for you."

"I think he was more excited for the $5,000," she says, laughing, "and not for the million dollars. I don't think he believed me."

Torrez will get about $700,000 after taxes in June.

She plans to give $50,000 to her dad. Torrez said she's also giving her car to her sister.

"I'm going to buy me a new car," Torrez said, laughing, "and I will invest the rest, for sure. And I'm not just saying that cause I'm on TV."