SACRAMENTO (KRON) — A Bay Area man says he slept on top of his winning Scratchers ticket to safeguard it until he could cash in the $2 million prize.

State lottery officials say Gregory Naumann purchased several California Lottery tickets in Montara, in San Mateo County, on his way home from work on May 21.

The frequent lotto player said he wasn’t in a hurry to check if he’d won and decided to take his time and wait until after dinner to take a look at his tickets.

Later that evening Naumann remembers starting with the smallest denomination of tickets of $5 and then scratching his way up to the largest denomination, a $20 Million $$ Match game. He definitely ended up saving the best for last, said lotto officials. That’s because he won an instant $2 million. The only way he could have been happier was if he’d hit the top prize of $5 million.

“I took it back right away (to the retailer to have it scanned) to make sure what I saw was real!” Naumann recalled. Before he left, his wife said, “He had a look of terror on his face.” She said she was worried something was gravely wrong. “I told her, ‘I think I just won $2 million,’” Naumann added with a chuckle.

The following afternoon Naumann drove to the Lottery’s district office in South San Francisco to claim his fortune before the start of the three-day Memorial Day weekend. He recalls how he literally slept on top of his ticket for safekeeping. “I actually slept like a baby – on the ticket,” said Naumann. “I put it under the mattress in an envelope.” His wife added that she first made a couple of copies of the ticket, just to be extra safe.

This is by far the biggest lottery win for Naumann, who actually considers himself a pretty lucky guy. “I win $100 quite often. I have a little stash (of winnings) when I play the Scratchers. It’s like playing with house money to some degree.” Naumann says he’s still thinking about what he wants to do with the bulk of his $2 million winnings, although he says he’s going to start by paying off his mortgage and some other debts.

Naumann purchased his lucky Million $$ Match game at Neighborhood Gas Mart, located at 8445 Cabrillo Highway in Montara. The retailer is also a winner because of that lucky ticket. It’s receiving a $10,000 bonus just for selling the ticket.