A Byron Bay man admitted he celebrated discovering he won a top prize on an Instant Scratch-Its ticket by dancing around the house with his beloved dog.
The winning $5 Live the Life Instant Scratch-Its ticket was purchased at Byron Bay Newsagency, Shop 1, Centrepoint Byron Bay.
A NSW Lotteries official called the winner this morning, who was still trying to comprehend the news he’d won one of the top prizes of $1,000 a week for five years.
“I was just at the shop buying a paper and decided to pick up some Instant Scratch-Its tickets while I was there,” he explained.
“I went home and while I was reading the paper and having a cup of coffee, I scratched the ticket.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw! It didn’t feel real. I had to check it over and over again. I was ecstatic.
“There was no one home but my dog, so I had no one to tell but him! I was so excited about it and we were running around the house. I was cheering, he was barking!
“Woo-hoo! It’s fantastic.
“This is awesome, absolutely awesome.”
When asked how he planned to enjoy his instant prize, the thrilled man admitted it had come at the perfect time.
“This will be a big help to my retirement,” he shared.
“I might get myself some new toys for myself and get my teeth done.
“It will help a lot.”
Byron Bay Newsagency manager Adam Stewart said he was thrilled for his winning customer.
“It is very exciting,” he said.
“Our winner is a local customer and when he found out he was so excited and shocked.
“We were just as happy for him! He’s such a great guy and very deserving.
“We’ve been sharing the news with our customers and it’s certainly created a buzz.
“We are feeling a bit lucky now, so hopefully this is the start of a winning streak and we deliver more wins to our customers.”
Between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019, there were 118 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across the Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $12.14 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 27.6 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $214.2 million.
