He was bored so he tried his luck on a SC lottery ticket. Then came a sleepless night
A South Carolina lottery player hit the jackpot — and he was so surprised that he couldn’t sleep.
“I kept getting up and looking in the dresser drawer to make sure the ticket was still there,” he told the S.C. Education Lottery after his $375,000 win.
The moment of excitement came after the man was bored and decided to play the Mighty Jumbo Bucks scratch-off game. Officials said he spent $10 on a ticket at OMKS LLC, a convenience store in Myrtle Beach.
And when he scratched it off, he found out the ticket was worth much more. It turns out, the winner beat 1-in-960,000 odds to win the game’s top prize, officials said Tuesday in a news release.
“I was completely shocked,” the winner, whose name wasn’t publicly released, told the S.C. Education Lottery.
The next day, he said was trembling as he went to claim his prize money in Columbia.
“I was shaking in line at the Claims Center waiting my turn,” the winner told lottery officials.
The man kept $258,750 after taxes and now is “just trying to enjoy the moment,” he said in the S.C. Education Lottery’s news release.
He’s not the first lottery player who wanted to make sure his winning ticket wasn’t lost. In February 2020, a South Carolina man stored his lucky ticket for “safe keeping” but almost forgot where he put it, McClatchy News reported.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
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.
