Lottery player was ‘having a bad day’ — until he won a huge prize in Missouri

A lottery player in Missouri was having a bad day, but he wasn’t completely out of luck.

The player turned around his bad day with a Big Riches scratch-off ticket he purchased in Freeburg, according to a May 28 news release from the Missouri Lottery.

Instead of scratching off the symbols first, he had an alternative plan — but it didn’t let him know how much he won.

“I scratched the barcode first,” the winner shared. “Then I scanned it to see if I won.”

When it showed he won, he began scratching off the ticket. It revealed he won $100,000, the second highest prize offered in the game.

“I was having a bad day,” he said. “Then I saw the win symbol and couldn’t believe it!”

Big Riches costs $30 to play and offers four prizes of $100,000 and four $3 million jackpots, but only one of each of the big prizes is left.

Freeburg is about a 130-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.

This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Lottery player was ‘having a bad day’ — until he won a huge prize in Missouri."