Man asks worker to check his lottery ticket. Her eyes were ‘as big as 50-cent pieces’

Adam Gersdorf was sitting in his car — getting gas at Casey’s — when he scratched his Iowa lottery ticket.

As he was scratching his “Ruby Red 7s” scratch ticket, he realized he might have won the game’s top prize, according to a news release from the Iowa Lottery.

“I was like, ‘no way!’” the 45-year-old man recalled to lottery officials.

Unsure if he could believe his eyes, he decided to get a second opinion.

“I ran inside and said, ‘Ma’am, can you please scan this for me and make sure I’m not reading this wrong?’” he said in the news release. “She turned around and her eyes were just as big as 50-cent pieces, you know? She’s like, ‘Yeah! $70,000!’”

Gersdorf, of Cedar Rapids, won $70,000 — the $5 game’s biggest prize, officials said. He plans to use his prize money to pay off debt and take care of his family.

This story was originally published March 24, 2023 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Man asks worker to check his lottery ticket. Her eyes were ‘as big as 50-cent pieces’."