KY woman stops at gas station while in search of ice cream, leaves with $1M lottery win
A Montgomery County woman was on a quest for a Dairy Queen Blizzard recently when she decided to stop at a Shell station and buy a scratch-off ticket.
The seven-figure prize made her forget all about her craving for ice cream.
The Jeffersonville woman, whom the Kentucky Lottery said wants to remain anonymous, bought a $20 Kentucky Jackpot ticket. Scratching off the ticket, she revealed a “Win” symbol and instantly won $1 million.
According to the game’s official rules, the odds of winning its top prize are 1 in 600,000. The overall odds for winning any prize are 1 in 3.24.
“I thought, ‘Well I won my $20 back.’ I thought it was $100 at first but then I saw the comma, so there was more. I noticed the smaller zeroes and knew it was a big one,” the woman told lottery officials, according to a Feb. 10 release.
Stunned, the woman returned the ticket to the Shell station’s clerk to confirm the win.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?,” she asked the clerk, who confirmed the win. He told her to head to Kentucky Lottery headquarters in downtown Louisville to collect her prize.
Abandoning the Blizzard, the woman jumped in the car with her fiancé and headed to Louisville.
When collecting her winnings, the woman opted for the lump sum payment of $680,000 rather than $50,000 per year for 20 years. After taxes, she took home a check for $489,600.
Together, the couple plans to pay off their medical bills and become debt free.
“This is life changing,” the couple told lottery officials, according to the release.
In other recent Kentucky Lottery news, if you bought a Powerball ticket in Jessamine County, you may want to check your pockets. A winning ticket sold there is worth $50,000. It was unclaimed as of Feb. 6.
If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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 below.