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40 years of using same lottery numbers never paid off for Missouri woman — until now

A woman who has used the same lottery numbers for the past 40 years won big, Missouri officials said.
A woman who has used the same lottery numbers for the past 40 years won big, Missouri officials said. Getty Images/iStockphoto

A woman was finally visited by lottery luck after using the same numbers for almost 40 years, Missouri officials said.

The woman bought the 9-Spot ticket at a convenience store in Waynesville, according to a March 7 news release by the Missouri Lottery. She had no clue it was carrying a prize of $80,000.

The Pulaski County player’s son went to get the ticket checked when the cashier told him she couldn’t cash it.

“She said, ‘Give me your phone,’’ the winner told lottery officials. “So he gave her the phone, and she took a picture of it and said, ‘This is what your mom won, and that’s why we can’t pay her!’”

That’s when the woman’s son called her to share the good news, officials said.

The woman had matched all nine numbers of her Club Keno ticket, lottery officials said.

The woman would’ve won $30,000 but because she added the Bulls-Eye option, the prize jumped to $80,000 when she matched the Bulls-Eye number, officials said.

The woman plans to use some of the money to buy a new car, officials said.

Waynesville is about a 200-mile drive southeast from Kansas City.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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This story was originally published March 8, 2024 at 5:41 PM with the headline "40 years of using same lottery numbers never paid off for Missouri woman — until now."

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Paloma Chavez
McClatchy DC
Paloma Chavez is a reporter covering real-time news on the West Coast. She has a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California.
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