Bracken County man has even merrier Christmas after $116K Kentucky Lottery win
A Kentucky man from Augusta got quite a shock when he learned he’d won the jackpot playing the state lottery’s new Cleopatra Clusters game Christmas Eve.
“I thought he was having a stroke. He was shaking,” his girlfriend told Kentucky Lottery officials, according to a Thursday press release.
The man, Daniel Woodruff of Bracken County, won the game’s jackpot totaling $116,342.49.
Cleopatra Clusters is a new, progressive Instant Play game. The jackpot starts at $100,000 and increases with each purchase of a participating progressive jackpot Instant Play game, according to the release. Instant plays are only available for purchase online.
According to the game’s description on the state lottery’s website, players collect clusters of matching hieroglyphs to win prizes.
Woodruff said he was encouraged to play by a promotion the Kentucky Lottery was doing at the time: giving away “bonus bucks” that can be spent on free plays.
“The bonus game made a cluster and the money kept going up. I saw the jackpot pop up and then it disappeared. It happened so fast,” Woodruff said, according to the release.
He saw something that looked like he had won, but it wasn’t until he received an email from the Kentucky Lottery confirming his win that he was sure.
Woodruff shared the news with his family on Christmas: “Guess what I got for Christmas! When I told them, nobody believed me. It made for a fun day.”
Ultimately, Woodruff wagered $3 to win the game’s jackpot prize. After taxes, he took home a check worth $82,602.60.
Woodruff said he’ll use his earnings to pay off some debt and put the rest toward a house he’s been building.
If you or someone you know has a problem with gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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