Customer asks clerk to check old lottery ticket — and later discovers big SC prize
A woman asked a South Carolina clerk to check her old lottery ticket — and later discovered it was worth thousands of dollars.
“I’m still pinching myself,” the woman told the S.C. Education Lottery.
The lucky winner scored her six-figure prize after she went to a Speedway gas station in Greenville. She was trying her luck on a new Powerball ticket when she reportedly asked a worker to take a look at an older one.
But instead of discovering the prize amount, she was sent to Columbia, which has a claims center that handles larger prizes. She then realized her ticket matched enough numbers in a Powerball drawing to be worth $200,000, officials said in a Jan. 13 news release.
She was at the claims center when she told her husband she won.
“He texted back, ‘I love you.’ And she replied, ‘I love me too,’” according to the S.C. Education Lottery.
It turns out, the woman beat 1-in-913,129 odds to win $50,000 in an Oct. 24 drawing. She paid an extra $1 for her ticket, allowing the prize to grow to $200,000.
The winner, who wasn’t named in a news release, cashed in on her prize the following month. She kept $138,000 after taxes, lottery spokesperson Holli Armstrong told McClatchy News in an email.
It’s not the first time a lottery drawing has escaped someone’s mind.
In North Carolina, officials said a woman forgot a lucky ticket at the bottom of her purse. Another lottery player didn’t know a drawing had happened until she got a call telling her that she won big, 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.
This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Customer asks clerk to check old lottery ticket — and later discovers big SC prize."
