KY man uses previous lottery winnings to purchase $30 ticket — it made him a millionaire
A stroke of luck on a Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket recently resulted in a $3 million win for a Radcliff man.
The anonymous man used $40 in earnings off another Kentucky Lottery ticket Dec. 1 to purchase a $30 Break Fort Knox ticket. The prizes on that game are larger, and he felt confident he would strike big at some point.
“I’ve always told friends and family, it’s not if, it’s when,” he said, according to a Dec. 9 release from the lottery announcing the win.
He told officials he didn’t dream of a win so big, however. He scratched the ticket at the Elizabethtown Kroger where he purchased it, and it took a few rows before he became excited.
“I started scratching off the amount and saw the skinny dollar sign and the three and I about passed out,” he said, per the release. “I had to do a double take, triple take. I pulled up the app and scanned it. It said, ‘Congratulations, you won $3,000,000, claim at KLC.’ That’s when it got real!”
In Break Fort Knox players are tasked with scratching off numbers to match those with the ticket’s winning numbers. The game includes multipliers and the chance of winning multiple prizes. The top $3 million prize is paid in 20 annual installments of $150,000 or a smaller lump sum payout. Only one of those top prizes remains as of Dec. 15.
Most winning tickets are worth $30 to $50, but some larger prizes are available. The odds of any win on the game are 1 in 2.48.
Shocked by the win, the man called a friend to come look at the ticket right there at the store, then he signed his winning ticket and stashed it away.
He visited the lottery’s Louisville headquarters the next day to claim his prize, according to the release, opting for the lump sum payout of $2.244 million. After taxes, the man received a check for more than $1.6 million.
With the money, the man told officials he’d like to pay off debt, travel and invest.
The Kroger store will get a bonus of $22,440 for the sale of the winning ticket.
The Hardin County man isn’t the only big winner of Break Fort Knox in 2024. In April, an Indiana teacher won $100,000 on the same game.
If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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