A couple from Albury was left shaking from more than just caffeine over the weekend after their weekly tradition of reading the paper, having a cup of coffee, and scratching an Instant Scratch-Its ticket turned into a thrilling $100,000 top prize win.
The dynamic duo’s top prize winning $5 Wild Acres Instant Scratch-Its ticket was purchased at Thurgoona Plaza Newsagency, Shop 9, Thurgoona Plaza, 10 Shuter Avenue, Thurgoona.
When an official from The Lott reached out to confirm their prize, the winning pair shared that playing an Instant Scratch-Its ticket each week had become a favourite weekend treat of theirs over the years.
“We’re a bit overwhelmed but so happy. We didn’t want to get too excited before we knew it was true,” the winning woman said.
“I bought the ticket, but my partner scratched it so we’re going halves.
“It’s a little weekend tradition we do. We’ll buy the newspaper and two Instant Scratch-Its tickets for us, then we have a coffee and just read the paper and scratch our tickets.
“We don’t intend on winning ever, it’s more just something fun to do. I can’t even win a meat raffle so it’s pretty amazing!”
With $100,000 coming their way, the cheery couple shared they’d be able to pay some bills, live more securely, and go on a holiday.
“It’ll be a weird feeling when it hits our bank account,” she said.
“We’ll pay some bills first but after that, we can live more comfortably.
“We thought we might even go on a holiday. Maybe overseas or a little weekend getaway here.
“Thank you so much. We’re beyond grateful.”
Thurgoona Plaza Newsagency team member Vickie Sawatske said the team was thrilled a regular customer took home a top prize win.
“Isn’t it lovely? We’re over the moon,” she said.
“I actually served the pair when they came in with their winning ticket. They were still in shock and scared it wasn’t right. I think they looked at it about 1,000 times.
“They were absolutely delightful and so deserving. They come in every weekend.
“We’ve sold a few division one prizes over the years, but I think this is one of our first Instant Scratch-Its top prize ticket we’ve sold.
“Here’s to another win soon and a big thank you to all our customers for the ongoing support.”
In FY24, there were 143 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $12.12 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 26.4 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $249.65 million. This equates to more than half a million winners and more than $4.8 million won on Instant Scratch-Its each week.
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 FY24, more than 132.8 million winners took home more than $4.4 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including Saturday 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 $1.8 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.