A Watsonia woman is dreaming of spending time in the sand and sea in the new year after scratching one of the top prizes of $10,000 on a $1 Instant Scratch-Its ticket.
Sharing her excitement with an official from The Lott, the happy winner revealed she initially thought she had won a smaller prize.
“It was very surprising! I couldn’t believe it! I had to keep looking at the ticket!” she exclaimed.
“When I first scratched it, I thought I’d won $1,000, and I was thrilled.
“But then I realised there were some extra zeros on that, and I had won $10,000!
“I kept looking at the ticket, and then putting it away, and then pulling it out to look at it again.
“It was an incredible feeling when I kept seeing those numbers!
“I play scratchies every week and have been playing the $5 Crosswords for years.
“A few weeks ago, I bought a couple of extra $1 tickets and had a small win on them.
“So I cashed them in and kept winning and used that to buy this ticket.
“Turns out I did alright!”
When asked how she planned to enjoy her instant windfall, the thrilled woman said a seaside holiday would be the perfect way to start the new year.
“I’d love to go away for a holiday at the coast, just somewhere in Victoria,” she explained.
“With everything going on, and Christmas approaching, I think I’ll have to wait until the new year.
“Until then, I’ll just have to daydream and plan my holiday until I can go!
“Apart from that, I’m not sure what I’ll do. It took me a while to get over the fact I had won!
“Some people might not think it’s a huge amount, but it’s a lot of money, and I want to make sure I put it to good use.”
The thrilled player purchased her entry at Good Health Pharmacy Watsonia, 83 Watsonia Road, Watsonia.
Good Health Pharmacy Watsonia manager Jonny Win said he was stoked one of his regular customers had scored a major prize.
“She came in to check her ticket, and we were so excited for her! She really didn’t believe it!” he exclaimed.
“This is the first major prize we’ve sold in a long time, so we are thrilled.
“We have a lot of regular Instant Scratch-Its players visit our store, so they will be very happy to hear we’ve sold a top prize.
“We are so happy it’s gone to a regular customer and a local!
“Congratulation to our winner! We wish her all the best.”
Between 1 July 2019 and 30 June 2020, there were 151 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across The Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $11.8 million in top prizes.
During this same time, Instant Scratch-Its players enjoyed more than 29.1 million wins across all prize tiers worth more than $235.25 million. This equates to more than half a million dollars won on Instant Scratch-Its every day.
