Kentucky woman scratches off $4K on lottery ticket, then scratches another...and another
Rose Richie, a La Grange resident, couldn’t believe her eyes when she scratched off $4,000 on a $5 Mood Money ticket she bought at a liquor store recently.
Then she scratched off another $4,000 and another…and another, until all 15 spots on the ticket revealed the same prize amount. All together, Richie won $60,000.
Shaken by the win, Richie called her husband to deliver the incredible news.
“I was having an anxiety attack,” Richie recently told Kentucky Lottery officials, according to a Tuesday news release from the agency. “I told him, ‘honey, please come home, I’m nervous. I’m making sure my eyes are seeing right.’”
Her eyes were right, and for Halloween, Richie claimed her winnings at Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville.
After taxes, she took home a check for $43,200. For her, it was the answer to a prayer. Richie and her husband had just purchased a new home and were in need of the money.
“I’ve been praying for a little nest egg,” Richie said. “This will help us stay ahead.”
The new Mood Money scratch-off game, which launched in May, has a top prize of $60,000, with smaller amounts between $5 and $600 also on the table.
Overall, the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 3.63, though those odds and the number of available prizes are subject to change as tickets are sold. As of Nov. 11, two top prizes of $60,000 were still available.
Along with Richie, other recently announced Kentucky Lottery winners include a Powerball player in Christian County who won a five-figure prize and an Oldham County man who just missed winning $5 million on a new scratch-off game.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER.
Do you have a question about the lottery in Kentucky for our service journalism team? Send us an email at ask@herald-leader.com or fill out our Know Your Kentucky form.