Mr Rodney Meadows was out running errands on Nov 23 when he decided to drop by his local store in Modesto to pick up some lottery tickets.

It was an inspired decision, netting him US$1,000 (S$1,410) from a US$30 ticket.

But what followed - whether it was intuition or pure good luck - proved even better, after he decided to "let it ride" and pop back into the store minutes later to buy three more tickets.

One of the tickets transformed Mr Meadows into an instant millionaire, as it turned out to be the top-prize winning ticket of US$10 million.

"First off, I could not believe it. I had to ask the clerk at the store and he said, 'you better check it again on the machine'," Mr Meadows was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the California State Lottery.

The store's manager, Mr Lakhvir Singh, told local media that the second batch of tickets Mr Meadows bought were the "last three tickets left on that row".

According to officials, he is one of only four people to win US$10 million playing a US$30 California Lottery 30th Anniversary Scratchers ticket.

A spokesman told The Los Angeles Times that Mr Meadows had a one-in-three million chance of clinching the top prize.

When asked what he planned to do with his windfall, Mr Meadows said he was still undecided.