LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Grant County woman is waking up richer this morning after winning the top prize from a Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket.
Lottery officials said the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, turned $40 in scratch-offs into half a million dollars.
She said she doesn't normally play the $20 games but had just won $40 on another ticket -- so she decided to try her luck and bought two Wild Number 100X tickets.
"I saw the 5X symbol on the first one, then again, then again," she said. Officials said there were wins on all 20 spots on the ticket, totaling the game's top prize of $500,000.
"I panicked! I called my sister, then my dad. I couldn't believe it was real," the woman said. "My kids were jumping up and down, but they didn't even know why."
The winner said the most she's ever won from the lottery in the past was $5,000. She said she used that money for a down payment on a car for her daughter. "Now I can pay it off," she said.
Officials said she cashed the ticket at the Lottery's headquarters in downtown Louisville, where she received a check for $357,500 after taxes.
The woman plans to use her winnings to purchase a home, possibly a plot of land, and help out her family.
The winning ticket was purchased at Fas Mart on Taft Highway in Dry Ridge. The retailer will receive $5,000 for selling the ticket as well.
Earlier this week, a Louisville couple also won the game's top prize after a man bought several scratch-off tickets for his wife's birthday.
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