KY man switches up lottery games. His $20 wager made him a millionaire
A winning scratch-off ticket from the Kentucky Lottery’s Feelin’ Like A Million Bucks game turned a Shelby County man into an instant millionaire with a $20 wager.
The man, who according to the lottery wishes to remain anonymous, bought his ticket at the Convenient No. 40 in Shelbyville, the organization announced Aug. 19 in a news release.
While he doesn’t usually play the scratch-offs, preferring the lottery’s draw games, the man said something about Feelin’ Like A Million Bucks caught his eye.
“I don’t usually play scratch-offs, but the name of [the] game jumped out to me,” he told the lottery.
He bought a ticket, but ultimately wasn’t a winner. The next day, he returned to the store to play his numbers on draw games and decided to give it another shot. Scratching off the ticket, the man revealed a 2 in the last row, meaning he’d won the game’s top prize of $1 million.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I usually check my tickets on the machine, but this time I scratched it off and saw the million-dollar prize.”
“As soon as I won, I was out of there,” he continued, adding he made a beeline for home to store the winning ticket in his safe.
Claiming his winnings at Kentucky Lottery headquarters in downtown Louisville, the man chose to take the game’s lump sum payment of $700,000 rather than a $50,000, 20-year annuity. He took home about $500,000 after taxes.
In another stroke of luck, the man also revealed he’d won $4,000 playing Pick 3 on the morning he claimed his $1 million scratch-off prize.
He said he doesn’t have immediate plans for the money. It’s parked in a bank account for now.
“I needed this win,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”
As one of the Kentucky Lottery’s new games, the Feelin’ Like A Million Bucks game launched in April. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 600,000.
Another recent Kentucky Lottery win hit the million-dollar mark, with the winnings going to a lucky player in Owensboro.