Lottery player’s ‘mouth dropped open’ when Missouri win was revealed. ‘We’re rich!’

Sticking to her normal routine of only playing lottery games with scratch-off areas on both sides of the ticket, a woman didn’t have much luck on the front of her Big Cash Riches game.

But when she turned it over and began scratching the backside, a new fortune awaited, Missouri Lottery officials said in a Feb. 19 news release.

First it was $20,000, a prize that already excited the woman, who purchased the ticket from a store in St. Louis.

By the time she finished scratching it off, she learned she was one of the game’s jackpot winners.

“I held it up to my heart and my mouth dropped open,” she said. “I must have held it for two hours!”

She had won one of the game’s seven $100,000 jackpot prizes — a more-than-solid return on investment for her $5 ticket.

The winner said she has been playing Big Cash Riches since the game first came out in November.

She doesn’t always scratch off the tickets right away, however. The winner told lottery officials she had the winning ticket on her nightstand for nearly two weeks before she finally scratched it off.

And after she did, she went straight to her son’s room to share the good news.

“He said, ‘We’re rich!’” she laughed.

This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 10:54 AM with the headline "Lottery player’s ‘mouth dropped open’ when Missouri win was revealed. ‘We’re rich!’."