Woman thought she won $1,000 on SC lottery game, but her prize was much bigger
A Midlands woman who had her husband buy some lottery tickets initially thought she’d won $1,000 on one of the scratch-off games, according to South Carolina Education Lottery officials.
Upon closer inspection, the payout was much bigger and the couple actually won a $100,000 grand prize, officials said in a news release.
“I about jumped out of my skin,” she said in the release.
The couple originally hadn’t gone out to get lottery tickets, officials said. They were getting hamburgers at a Burger King in Irmo when the husband told the wife he was going to run inside the nearby Pitt Stop gas station/convenience store, according to the release.
“I asked him to get me two of the pink tickets,” the woman said. “They are my favorite.”
One of the “pink tickets,” was Lady Jumbo Bucks Crossword game that the man bought for $3 at the Broad River Road store, which is near Exit 101 on Interstate 26.
Inside their car, the woman scratched off the ticket.
“I thought I won $1,000,” she said.
On the way home, she counted the words on her ticket again and realized she had missed one and her jackpot was actually 100-times larger, officials said.
In total, she uncovered 11 words on the ticket to win the game’s top prize, according to the release.
“I was overwhelmed with joy,” she said.
The winners will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
The couple told officials that they plan to spend their newfound six-figure windfall on home improvements.
The couple overcame 600,000-to-1 odds to win the Lady Jumbo Bucks Crossword game’s grand prize, according to the release.
The Pitt Stop in Irmo received a commission of $1,000 for selling the claimed ticket.
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