A couple from Nicholasville will pay off their debts after winning big on a Kentucky lottery scratch-off ticket this month.
According to the Kentucky Lottery, Donald and Phyllis Johnson have won substantial sums in the past, but nothing like their $5 Gold Mine 9X ticket, purchased at Joe’s Food Mart on South Main Street in Nicholasville, on October 7.
After purchasing the ticket that morning, Donald scratched it off to reveal three gold bars—a ticket for the game’s grand prize of $90,000.
“I’ve hit $1,000s and $2,000s, but nothing like this,” he told Kentucky Lottery officials, according to a release issued Tuesday. It’s the first time I’ve ever achieved such a feat.
In Gold Mine 9X, players must scratch their ticket to reveal a series of prizes, winning by removing the corresponding gold bars. As of Monday, players had claimed all the top $90,000 prizes, with the remaining winners ranging from $5 to $900. The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are one in 3.39.
In disbelief, Donald returned to the store to double-check his reward before calling Phyllis, who informed him the ticket was worth $90,000.
“I saw $90,000 appear on the screen. It frightened me,” he added in the release.
Phyllis, who was driving with her uncle, assumed he was joking.
“He stated, ‘I hit $90,000.’ I thought, ‘Oh, you’re lying.'” she told lottery authorities.
The couple promptly drove to the Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville to claim their reward, which was $64,000 after taxes.
According to lottery authorities, they intend to use the cash to pay off debt and purchase a car.
The winning ticket’s seller, Joe’s Food Mart in Nicholasville, received a $900 bonus.
The Johnsons aren’t the only recent huge winners in Kentucky. Last Monday, the lottery reported that a nurse who played an online lottery game won the jackpot of more than $277,000.
