National

Lottery player is no football fan — but she scores big on Clemson scratch-off ticket

A Clemson scratch-off ticket netted a non-football fan a huge jackpot prize in South Carolina, lottery officials said.
A Clemson scratch-off ticket netted a non-football fan a huge jackpot prize in South Carolina, lottery officials said. GETTY IMAGES

A South Carolina lottery player couldn’t care less about football but tried her luck on a Clemson scratch-off ticket anyway.

As chance would have it, she scored big.

“It was a joyful moment,” the Pee Dee woman told the South Carolina Education Lottery of winning $200,000.

She spent $5 on the lucky Clemson Jackpot game at a convenience store in Darlington, though she admits she’s “not a Clemson fan,” the lottery said in a Jan. 31 news release.

“I’m not a fan of football either,” she told the lottery.

The winner beat odds of 1-in-520,000 to take home the jackpot, leaving one $200,000 top prize unclaimed in the Clemson Jackpot game, lottery officials said.

The woman told the lottery she plans to use her winnings to help others.

Darlington is about an 80-mile drive northeast from Columbia.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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Tanasia Kenney
Sun Herald
Tanasia is a service journalism reporter at the Charlotte Observer | CharlotteFive, working remotely from Atlanta, Georgia. She covers restaurant openings/closings in Charlotte and statewide explainers for the NC Service Journalism team. She’s been with McClatchy since 2020.
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