Scottsdale Circle K sues over $12.8 million lottery ticket

Who Owns the $12.8 Million Scottsdale Lottery Ticket?

A Scottsdale Circle K convenience store has become the unlikely center of one of the more unusual legal disputes in Arizona Lottery history, and the outcome could change how retailers across the state handle lottery tickets.

Here is what happened. On November 24, 2025, a customer walked into the Circle K at Bell Road and 56th Street in north Scottsdale and requested several tickets for The Pick, the Arizona Lottery's long-running six-number draw game. The clerk printed 85 tickets, but the customer only paid for 60 and walked out. The remaining 25 tickets were set aside and never sold to anyone else. That same evening, one of those leftover tickets matched all six winning numbers — 3, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 26 — and hit the jackpot worth $12.8 million. For context, the odds of that happening on any single ticket are roughly one in 7 million.

Under Arizona Administrative Code, tickets that are printed but never sold become the property of the retailer, not the customer who left without buying them. Retailers also pay the lottery for every ticket they print, whether it moves off the counter or not, making unsold tickets a financial loss by default.

Here is where it gets messy. According to Circle K's lawsuit filed in Maricopa County this week, an employee named Gawlitza clocked out after the drawing and attempted to claim the ticket as his own personal purchase. Circle K corporate got wind of it fast, took possession of the ticket, and has held it ever since. Now the company wants a judge to settle the ownership question once and for all.

The Arizona Lottery and Gawlitza are both named as defendants. The lottery spokesperson acknowledged this is a situation they have never seen before. The ticket expires May 23, 2026, so the clock is ticking.

Sources: Phoenix New Times | ABC15 | Fox 10 Phoenix | 12News