SC lottery player thought he won $20. Then more zeroes appeared, leaving him in shock
A Midlands man said he was in shock as he continued to scratch off zero after zero at the end of his prize on a South Carolina Education Lottery ticket.
When he was finished, the prize that he originally thought was for $20 was actually a jackpot winning $200,000, lottery officials said in a news release.
“I was in shock,” the winner said in a news release.
It wasn’t until after he deposited the winnings and saw his bank account balance that he believed it was real.
The man’s name was not released because South Carolina is one of eight states — along with Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and Texas — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.
The winner told lottery officials he will use the money from the windfall to buy a new house, and he’s already checking out the real estate listings.
“It was great!” he said in the release. “It takes a load off my mind.”
The winning scratch-off ticket was bought for $5 at the Circle K store on Bush River Road in Columbia, lottery officials said.
The gas station/convenience store received a commission of $2,000 for selling the claimed winning ticket, according to the release.
Lottery officials said the odds of winning $200,000 in Lucky Numbers were 1-in-750,000. One top prize remains in the game, with three having been claimed, according to lottery officials.
This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 1:37 PM with the headline "SC lottery player thought he won $20. Then more zeroes appeared, leaving him in shock."
