ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Reporters swarmed a gift shop Wednesday where a winning $315 million lottery ticket was sold, then shifted to a medical center in Garden Grove when they were told seven of its employees shared the ticket.

The “lucky seven,” as people have begun to call them, asked to stay anonymous for now, said Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Barbara Shipnuck.

The winners have 180 days to redeem the ticket. Big lottery winners often delay coming forward.

The prize was the third-biggest won with a single ticket in the history of lotteries in the United States.

The winning ticket was bought at Rainbow Water, Juice, Flower & Gift. Raquel Cordova, 20, was busy Wednesday giving interviews and selling more lottery tickets at the shop not far from Disneyland.

Cordova, 20, said that two years ago, her parents Guadalupe, 53, and Jose Cordova, 53, were considering selling the store but changed their minds.

“My mom’s like, ‘No, no, someday I’ll hit it big and I’ll be able to retire,” Raquel said.

The Cordova family will receive $1 million for selling the winning ticket.

Just last month, an Oregon family claimed the largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history won by a single ticket, $340 million. The numbers were drawn Oct. 19 in the other big multistate lottery, Powerball. Until then, the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history was the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot won by a West Virginia man on Christmas Day 2002.

On May 9, 2000, the jackpot for the Big Game – the forerunner of Mega Millions -grew to $363 million. That pot was split between two tickets.

Besides California, Mega Millions is played in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

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On the Net:

http://www.megamillions.com

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