Who owns a lottery ticket that nobody really bought until the morning after the draw? That is the question now sitting before a Maricopa County judge after Circle K asked the court to decide who gets a $12.8 million Arizona Lottery “The Pick” jackpot.
The disputed ticket came from the Nov. 24, 2025 drawing, matched 3, 13, 14, 15, 19 and 26, and Arizona Lottery’s official drawing record lists its expiration date as May 23, 2026.
According to the complaint described by AZFamily, a customer asked for $85 worth of $1 tickets, paid for only $60, and left 25 behind at the counter.
The next morning, store manager Robert Gawlitza allegedly learned the store had printed the winning ticket, clocked out, changed out of his uniform, and bought the remaining tickets for $10, including the jackpot winner.
That is where the case gets tricky. This is not really a fight over the numbers. It is a fight over timing, store ownership, and whether an unpaid ticket can suddenly become someone else’s fortune after the draw is already over.
Arizona Lottery rules say all draw ticket sales are final, and if a player refuses a draw ticket and the retailer does not resell it, the ticket is deemed owned by the retailer.
The rules pull in two directions
The same retailer rules also say an employee cannot play while working, must buy from another on-duty employee, and must pay before playing.
In practical terms, that means the court is being asked whether Gawlitza’s next-day purchase counted as a valid sale at all, or whether the winning ticket had already become Circle K property once the original customer walked away.
Arizona Lottery told AZFamily the case is a “unique situation” and said it was not aware of earlier litigation of this sort.
The stakes are bigger than one lucky ticket. Fox 10 Phoenix, citing an Arizona Lottery statement, reported that the $12.8 million prize was tied for the fourth largest The Pick jackpot ever and the biggest in the state since 2019.
For convenience stores across Arizona, the ruling could also become a guide for what happens when lottery paper left beside the register turns into real money overnight.
The deadline matters too
There is also a clock running in the background. Arizona Lottery rules say draw game prizes must be claimed within 180 days, and the official record for this jackpot points to May 23, 2026. That gives the legal fight a countdown, not just a courtroom.
The official drawing record was published on Arizona Lottery.
