An Innisfail man couldn’t believe his eyes when he uncovered his outstanding $100,000 Instant Scratch-Its prize.
The Cassowary Coast locals winning $5 Emerald 7s Instant Scratch-It top prize ticket was purchased at Larsens newsXpress Innisfail, 60 Rankin St, Innisfail.
The winning man was still buzzing with excitement when lottery officials contacted him a day after he’d claimed his prize at The Lott headquarters.
“I still can’t believe it,” he cheered.
“It’s a funny story, I first bought a $1 ticket to kill time and I won $5 from it.
“I was feeling lucky so decided to use the winnings to buy a $5 Emerald 7s ticket not expecting anything.
“Before I knew it, I’d scratched my way to the top prize of $100,000.
“I just thought to myself, ‘Holy heck!’.
“Everything just seemed to line up that day.
“I’m still struggling to believe I’ve won a top prize - it’s been surreal.
“My wife and I are over the moon and are thinking we’ll upgrade our next holiday to celebrate.”
Larsens newsXpress Innisfail manager Barbra Kremastos said she was thrilled to have sold a top prize winning ticket and that the whole Innisfail town has been cheering since.
“It’s a very exciting time for our store as this is our first top prize Instant Scratch-Its ticket we’ve sold,” she shared.
“All our customers are amazed by this win and are hoping it will be their turn next.
“We couldn’t be happier for our winner and hope he gets everything he’s dreamt of with the prize.”
In 2023, there were 144 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $12.1 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 26.76 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $249.17 million. This equates to more than half a million winners a week and about $700,000 won on Instant Scratch-Its every day.
Every month, Instant Scratch-Its’ 2nd Chance Draw gives you another chance to turn your eligible non-winning Instant Scratch-Its into a winner. Visit thelott.com to enter this month’s 2nd Chance Draw.
The official home of Australia’s lotteries, The Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.
In 2023, more than 122.7 million wins took home more than $3.76 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including Saturday Gold Lotto, Weekday Windfall, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno (SA), Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
Last financial year, Australia’s official lotteries contributed more than $1.6 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.
