KY man thought won he $96 on a lottery ticket. It was 1,000 times that amount
A Richmond man who initially thought he’d won $96 on a Kentucky Fast Play ticket ended up winning more than 1,000 times that amount, the lottery announced Aug. 21.
The anonymous man hit a stroke of luck when he bought the ticket at an area Kroger on a whim.
“I had it in my pocket until I needed it,” he told Kentucky Lottery officials, according to a news release. “I thought it was $96. I went back to the store where I bought it a few days later, and they told me they couldn’t cash it because it was more than they could pay out.”
The man then took the ticket to a Walmart and asked an employee there to scan it. Once again, the amount was too big for the retailer to cash.
“I got to looking at it and saw where it said ‘JACKPOT,’” the man told lottery officials. “I couldn’t believe it.”
His winning ticket matched the number 20 to win 20% of the jackpot, at the time estimated to be $493,113. That made his true prize $98,622.
The man and his wife later made the trip to Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville to claim the prize. After taxes, he received a check for $71,007.84.
The money should make for a good down payment on the couple’s dream home.
“We’ve been wanting to buy a home for a long time, and this will give us more options,” his wife said.
They also plan to purchase a new vehicle and save the rest, the release said.
The Kentucky Lottery’s Fast Play game features instant cash prizes and a rolling jackpot. Players have a chance to win a percentage of the jackpot, which starts at $10,000. The odds of winning the jackpot on a $2 game are 1 in 240,000.
In another win announced this week, Kentucky Lottery said a Shelby County man won a $1 million pre-tax prize playing a scratch-off game.
If you or someone you know has a problem gambling, help is available at 1-800-522-4700.
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