A Launceston woman unknowingly sat on a $25,000 Instant Scratch-Its win for months after pinning the gifted Mother’s Day ticket on her fridge and completely forgetting about it.
The northern Tasmanian local’s winning $2 Prize Piggy Instant Scratch-Its top prize ticket was purchased at Shearwater IGA, 30 Shearwater Boulevard, Shearwater.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she chuckled when an official from The Lott reached out to find out how the win came to be.
“My three kids gave me some scratchies months ago for Mother’s Day and I didn’t know how to do them, so I scratched one and forgot about the rest.
“The other day I decided to actually scratch the left-over tickets and I was left in complete shock.
“I phoned my son and I said to him, ‘Remember those scratchies you guys gave me for Mother’s Day? Well, I won $2 and then $25,000!’. The phone went dead silent.
“I’ve already decided to gift $5,000 each to my kids and I’ll surprise my girlfriends with a getaway. They won’t know what’s hit them.
“We’ll have to open the bottle of champagne to celebrate!”
Shearwater IGA team member Jeremy Kode said he was over the moon to have sold a top prize-winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket and wished his winner all the best with their top prize.
“We’re really pleased to have sold a top prize Instant Scratch-Its ticket and have been letting all of our customers know about the good news,” he said.
“We really hope they come into the store so we can congratulate them in-person on their windfall.
“Congratulations to the winning woman and we hope you enjoy your 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 TattsLotto, 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.
