MOUNT STERLING, Ky. — A man from Mt. Sterling, Ky. is now $50,000 richer (before taxes) thanks to his luck playing the newest Scratch-off game from the Kentucky Lottery.
Johathan Bailey purchased a $50 Millionaire Club ticket on the first day it was available. He told lottery officials he was astonished he actually won.
“Yesterday was a very interesting day for me,” Bailey said.
Bailey told lottery officials he is currently in the process of buying a new home and was just sent a check from his insurance company. He took some of that money and stopped at the PKE in Jeffersonville.
Bailey said his luck started with a couple of Scratch-offs on his lunch break.
“I bought the newer $20 tickets,” Bailey said. “I won $500; I bought two of them.”
While revealing his winners, the clerk made Bailey aware of the new Millionaire Club.
“He told me, ‘You should have bought this new ticket,’” Bailey said.
After Bailey’s workday was over, he took the clerk’s advice and came back to the store to try his luck.
On his last ticket, Bailey revealed the $50,000 prize. He recalled scratching off the ticket and the winning prize was located on the very last row. While scratching the ticket, Bailey initially thought he won $10,000.
“I got to that first 500x [multiplier], and my heart dropped right there,” Bailey said. “It’s just one of those feelings you may never get back. I was super excited.”
Bailey, who works in sanitation, said the first person he told was his best friend at work.
“I told him, ‘I ain’t going to be there tomorrow,” Bailey said. “Whenever he asked me how much I won, I just said, ‘a bunch.’ He told me that I deserved it.”
Bailey said his winnings are going to help him with a fresh start.
“That makes my new home start off right, keeps me out of debt from everything,” he said. “That’s going to be awesome, this one just took the cake.”
In addition to paying off his new home, he told lottery officials that he plans to use some of his winnings towards paying off his truck.
The new Millionaire Club ticket features over $84.5 million in cash prizes, and Bailey was the first winner to share his story on the new record-breaking Scratch-off.
Bailey walked away with a check for $35,750 after taxes. The PKE located in Jeffersonville, where the winning ticket was purchased, will receive $500.
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