Woman turns down bingo with friend because she’s short on cash, then she wins lottery
An Ohio woman who initially turned down going to bingo with a friend because she was short on cash won a huge lottery prize that same night, officials said.
The winner said she was at Kroger buying groceries when her friend invited her to bingo, according to an Oct. 25 news release from the Ohio Lottery.
“I said, ‘you know, I really don’t have the money,’’’ the winner recalled, according to the release.
She then bought a $10 lottery ticket at the store and won $50, she told officials.
“I thought, ‘Oh good, I can go to bingo,’” she said, according to the release.
After forgetting to cash the ticket at Kroger, she stopped at Just Smokes #2 in Springfield, where she bought two more scratch-off tickets, including a “$1,000,000 Cashword” game, lottery officials said.
She scratched the $20 ticket, then scanned it on her phone to be sure her win was real.
“Congratulations, you won $50,000,” the message said, according to the release.
The woman told lottery officials she was brought to tears by her big win.
She will receive $36,000 after the mandatory 28% state and federal taxes are deducted, according to the release.
The winner said she plans to use her prize money to make repairs to her home and to help her brother affected by Hurricane Helene, lottery officials said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Woman turns down bingo with friend because she’s short on cash, then she wins lottery."
