A Forest Lake woman says she’s experienced the ride home of her life after discovering she won the top prize of $150,000 on an Instant Scratch-Its ticket.
The top prize winning $10 Jumbo Crosswords ticket was purchased at TSG Heathwood, Shop 6, 15 Stapylton Road, Heathwood.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” the winning woman laughed when speaking with an official from The Lott.
“I’m not really an emotional person but for some reason, this win got me good!
“I purchased the ticket on my way home and took some time to scratch it in my car.
“I only get Instant Scratch-Its Crosswords tickets, they’re my favourite.
“I initially thought I’d won $250 and given the amount, I tried to cash it immediately at the outlet.
“I went in to cash my ticket, and when it scanned it said the prize was too big to pay out via the lottery terminal.
“So, I started thinking maybe I had an even bigger win.
“I stopped counting at six or seven words, but to my surprise, when I returned to my car, I found more.
“Once I realised what the amount was, I started crying.
“I began to think it might’ve been a joke
“I called my partner and he told me to put it in a plastic bag and tuck it away for safekeeping.
“I hid the ticket in a plastic bag, inside of my wardrobe safe.
“I barely slept until I could go to The Lott head office to claim.
“When they confirmed the amount – I shed some more tears.
“This is game-changing kind of money.
“We can finalise some payments, and finish some home improvements.
“I might cry right now!
“It’s amazing.”
The top prize winning $10 Jumbo Crosswords ticket was purchased at TSG Heathwood, Shop 6, 15 Stapylton Road, Heathwood.
TSG Heathwood owner Phadara Chiv said he was overjoyed his outlet had sold its first top prize Instant Scratch-Its ticket since owning the store for over seven years.
In FY22, there were 139 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $14.51 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 28.7 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $261 million. This equates to almost three-quarters of a million dollars won on Instant Scratch-Its every day.
