Lottery player settles for different scratcher when game isn’t for sale — and wins big
UPDATE: This story has been updated to correct the state where the winning lottery ticket was sold. The original story continues below.
An Indiana man turned an unlucky circumstance into a lucky win, lottery officials said.
Along with tinkering in his garage and restoring a pickup truck, Ricky Coleman’s other hobby is buying a scratch-off ticket each day, according to an Aug. 9 news release from the Hoosier Lottery.
On one of his daily trips to purchase his tickets, the game Coleman planned to buy was unavailable, officials said. Instead, the retired auto body professional bought a $20 Fat Wallet ticket.
After scratching the ticket back at home, he realized he’d won the game’s top prize.
To be certain, Coleman had his granddaughter help him download the Hoosier lottery app, officials said.
A quick scan of his ticket confirmed he’d won $500,000, officials said. The odds of winning the top prize are 1-in-1,346,130, according to the lottery website.
The winner immediately ran to tell his wife, who was in the shower.
This is Coleman’s second lottery win after a $10,000 prize a few years ago, according to officials.
The winner said he plans to use his prize to buy his wife a new car and pay bills.
This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Lottery player settles for different scratcher when game isn’t for sale — and wins big."
