SMOKEY POINT — On Christmas day, Arlington resident Robert Gates bought himself what turned out to be an extra nice gift from Washington’s Lottery.

Gates stopped into a 7-Eleven store at Smokey Point on the afternoon of Dec. 25 and bought a Hit 5 ticket for the drawing the following day. When he returned to the store Dec. 26 to check his ticket, he learned that he’d hit the $140,000 Hit 5 jackpot.

“I don’t know how you explain that,” Gates said. “It’s a different feeling. I was just shaking.”

Because Gates wasn’t the only one to pick all five numbers, he and another player in Lakewood will split the jackpot and each receive $70,000.

A Washingtonian for most of his life, Gates has been a truck driver for 29 years and lived in Arlington for a little over a year. He hasn’t decided what he’ll do with his winnings yet.

“I’m still dreaming,” Gates said. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what to do with it.”