A Budgewoi man has described his state of shock and inability to speak when he scratched an Instant Scratch-Its ticket and discovered he won a top prize of $10,000.
The top prize winning $1 Money Pot ticket was purchased at Budgewoi Newsagency, 77 Scenic Drive, Budgewoi.
Speaking with an official from The Lott, the Central Coast winner explained he was still trying to comprehend his win.
“I actually bought this ticket myself as a bit of a treat,” he shared.
“I couldn’t believe it when I scratched it. I couldn’t even speak!
“I was completely stunned silent. I just kept thinking. ‘who can I get to check this?’. I couldn’t believe it!
“Once my family came home, I asked them all to check it and they said to me ‘oh my god, you’ve won the big one!’.
“I think we all rechecked the ticket about one hundred times.
“I keep thinking ‘wow, oh my god’.
“It’s surreal!”
When asked how he planned to enjoy his instant windfall, the elated man thought of his family first.
“Basically, I am going to use it to look after my family,” he shared.
“I’d also love to go on a bit of a holiday and go out for a nice dinner to celebrate when the money is in my bank account.”
Budgewoi Newsagency owner Jan Hewes said she was ecstatic when she heard the news.
“It’s fantastic!” she laughed happily.
“Selling a major prize winning ticket is almost as good as winning one.
“We couldn’t be happier for our winner and truly hope he enjoys it.
“Hopefully, we sell more major prize winning tickets to our customers.”
In 2020, there were 177 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $16 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 32.3 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $281.17 million. This equates to more than three-quarters of a million dollars won on Instant Scratch-Its every day.
