Kentucky man took a chance on pricier lottery ticket. Now he’s celebrating $500K win
A Kentucky Lottery player will likely have a very merry Christmas indeed after a recent big scratch-off ticket win.
The Lexington resident, who asked lottery officials to keep his identity anonymous, decided to use the $20 he had on hand to purchase a Jackpot Frost ticket on his recent commute home.
“I had $20 in my wallet, so I figured well, it’s getting closer to Christmas time, I’d go ahead and get a ticket,” he told lottery officials, according to a Friday release.
The man typically goes for the cheaper, $5 tickets, he said, but opted into the $20 game. That lucky ticket, purchased at the Nicholasville Road Kroger, proved a big winner.
In Jackpot Frost, players must match one or more of their numbers to one of “Jack’s” eight winning numbers. The game also includes “frost bonuses” to boost the winnings of some players. The odds of any win on the game are 1 in 2.96, but most winnings are worth between $20 and $100.
Scratching the ticket, the Lexington man found himself in possession of a jackpot-winning ticket worth the game’s top prize — $500,000.
“I scratched off the first [spot] and it was a 20X and the prize amount was $1,500, so I did the math and that was $30,000,” he told Kentucky Lottery officials. ”I scratched the second one and it was a match and that was for $10,000. I thought, this is going to be a big one.”
“My calculator wouldn’t go up that high,” he added, so instead, he scanned the ticket to see his prize, calling it “quite a shock.”
His first call was to his mom, who was in some disbelief, and then he called his boss to discuss taking some time off work to visit the lottery’s Louisville headquarters to claim his winnings.
“He texted me a little while later and said, ‘You are planning on coming back, right?,’” the man said of his boss.
After taxes, the man received a check from the lottery Dec. 9 for $360,000. As he told officials it’s not enough to retire, he will be going back to work, but this time with a good bit more money in investments.
The Kroger in Lexington that sold the winning ticket was awarded a $5,000 bonus.
The man isn’t the only Kentuckian who has struck big recently playing the state lottery’s scratch-off games. Earlier this week, the lottery announced a Nicholasville man won $50,000 on another ticket.
If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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