After his go-to lottery ticket was out of stock, a grandfather took a chance on a different scratch-off — and it paid off big time.
Clarence Neuenkirchen told the Illinois Lottery that he recently went to a Jewel-Osco in Oswego, Illinois, to buy his “favorite $5 Crossword ticket.” However, the grocery store was sold out.
Instead, he tried his luck at a different ticket.
“7X Bingo Multiplier is my second favorite — it feels like a little escape. I can take my time playing it,” he explained. The game involves scratching to reveal the bingo caller’s 30 numbers and five bonus numbers, with the player needing to match those numbers to their own in certain patterns to win prizes.
Much to Neuenkirchen’s surprise, that ticket made him $200,000 richer, as he beat odds of one in 1.797 million to win the top prize.
When Neuenkirchen shared the news with his wife, she was stunned. “I honestly thought she was going to break the floor—she kept jumping up and down!” he told Illinois Lottery.
“Maybe once the money is in our account, it’ll finally feel real,” he added.
Neuenkirchen said he plans to invest his winnings in his retirement and set up an education fund for his grandchildren. “The older ones will get a nice check,” he shared.
He also said he’ll put the money towards a trip for him and his wife, explaining: “We’re excited about a cruise in the Gulf and maybe even travel to France.”
The Jewel-Osco where the winning ticket was purchased will receive a $2,000 bonus.
Neuenkirchen’s tale is the latest in a recent string of lucky lottery winners hitting jackpots.
An unidentified woman stopped at a Redi Mart gas station in Lyman, South Carolina, and bought herself three Money Madness Extra Play scratch-off game lottery tickets — after her husband forgot to get them. She told the South Carolina Education Lottery that the “bright, shiny, and glittery tickets caught my eye.”
She didn’t win anything from the first two tickets after scratching off the hidden numbers. However, she said her third ticket was “magical,” since it won her the top prize of $500,000.
The woman also shared her plans for her earnings, adding: “I’ll have a little fun, take some trips, and retirement will come sooner rather than later.”
