Skeptical lottery player bet $1,000 that his big win was fake. Then he owed his friend
A skeptical lottery player thought an email he received about a huge prize was fake — so he made a bet.
“I told my friend I’d give him $500 if it was a hoax or $1,000 if it was real,” the man told the South Carolina Education Lottery.
It turns out, the man actually did hit the jackpot. So after scoring the $1 million prize, he owed his friend the $1,000, lottery officials wrote Feb. 10 in a news release.
The man got richer after trying his luck on the $1,000,000 Money Maker Second-Chance Promotion. He beat out more than 1 million entries to score the top prize in the drawing.
“It’s the best feeling,” said the prize winner, who has since donated to charity and paid off his car and mortgage.
The man kept $695,000 after taxes. He wasn’t identified publicly but is from Mullins, a roughly 50-mile drive northwest from Myrtle Beach, lottery officials wrote in their news release and in an email to McClatchy News.
It’s not the first time a lottery winner was left in disbelief. Another South Carolina man couldn’t believe his luck until he received his check, McClatchy News reported in 2023.
This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Skeptical lottery player bet $1,000 that his big win was fake. Then he owed his friend."
