Lotto winner hits jackpot in Agoura

MARIA McGINLEY/Special to The Acorn BIG PAYOFF—Tami Senoff hoists her $11-million winning check. At first, Tami Senoff couldn't believe her eyes.

"I checked the numbers four or five times," said Senoff, a local resident who won $11 million in the Aug. 13 California Lottery. "I thought it was a dream."

The midnight realization that she was a millionaire several times over prevented her from going to sleep, so, at 3 a.m., Senoff got in her car and drove to Agoura Hills Car Wash, the establishment where she had been purchasing lottery tickets twice a week for several years.

Senoff had stopped by the carwash almost every day at the crack of dawn to buy a cup of coffee before she went to her job in Westlake Village.

Last week, to go along with her morning coffee, she purchased a SuperLOTTO Plus ticket that carried the numbers 8,12, 23, 32, 39 and a "mega number" of 25. She had purchased a "quick pick," which permits the computer to select random numbers. The numbers matched, and Senoff won $11 million.

The 50-year-old Senoff, who cares for her ailing mother, said she plans on sharing her newfound wealth with her two brothers and friends, those who can use the money.

"I'll have fun with it for a while," said Senoff, who attended a news conference in Sherman Oaks hosted by the California Lottery.

Here's another winning bet: Senoff will be cutting back on her 65-hour work week.

"I'll work less hours," said Senoff, who's a technical recruiter for a firm in Westlake Village. But she doesn't plan on quitting her job. "I'm very happy, (and) I like what I do," she said.

Senoff said she hopes to invest her fortune wisely and eventually retire at Solano Beach in San Diego.

"She's such a wonderful, nice lady," said David Delrahim, owner of Agoura Car Hills Wash. "It means a lot to see a regular customer win."

Delrahim, who has owned and operated the carwash on Canwood Street for 25 years, will receive a $55,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

Al Lundeen, president of the California Lottery, said more than one million SuperLOTTO Plus tickets are sold every month.

Senoff became the 26th millionaire winner this year, Lundeen said.

The California Lottery pays 34 cents of every lottery dollar to public education. Fifty percent is returned to the players in the form of prizes.