Gregory McAllister has been playing the same numbers in the Tri-State Megabucks game since his 27th birthday, including the number 27, for 35 years. On Oct. 28, those numbers matched the winning numbers drawn and his ticket was worth $3.2 million.

“I just can’t believe I finally won,” he said. “I feel great!”

The Windsor man has been the bar manager at Sarah's Café in Wiscasset for 20 years. “I am planning to stay there for now as the people and the place are like home to me, but,” he laughed, “I may drop a couple of shifts.”

He chose to take the cash option of $2,546,249. After withholding for taxes, he will take home  $1,807,837.

He bought his ticket at Wiscasset Quik Stop and the store received a $30,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

The store has gotten the check and is getting a generator, which will “end a lot of headaches” in outages, store owner Sankar Anne told Wiscasset Newspaper in a phone interview Nov. 10. He said McAllister came in the store a couple times in the days following his jackpot win, first with the ticket and another time just to buy something. Both times, McAllister’s hands were shaking, Anne said. “He told us his hands have never shaken like that,” he said.

“That’s a good amount of money” to win, Anne said, laughing.

While McAllister lives outside Wiscasset, Anne said, “He’s a local guy. Everybody knows him.”

McAllister’s longtime Sarah’s Cafe co-worker Susan Robson told Wiscasset Newspaper in an email response Nov. 11, “We are all excited to have the winning spirit and bountiful feelings of abundance present on our corner of Wiscasset ... Greg plans to maintain a couple of shifts at Sarah's, staying in touch with his customers and friends in the area. He plans to golf more and of course afford a few new toys. Greg's winning has spurred a lot of conversation about ‘What would one do with a million dollars!’”

Robson added: “It has raised morale and prosperity consciousness, so welcome this year!”

“We’re all very happy for Gregory,” said Michael Boardman, deputy director of lottery operations for the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages & Lottery Operations. “It’s always nice to meet our winners and see how excited they are.” The winning numbers Oct. 28 were 02-09-16-27-30 with a Megaball of 5.