BARDSTOWN, Ky. — A Bardstown man recently claimed his winnings after purchasing a $690,369 Kentucky 5 jackpot ticket.
James Smith told Kentucky Lottery officials he has only been playing Kentucky 5 for a couple of months and always buys two $5 Quick Pick tickets.
For the June 26th drawing, Smith matched all five numbers drawn, winning the enormous jackpot.
Smith found out he won the Kentucky 5 jackpot after checking his email the following morning. He had received an email from the Kentucky Lottery notifying him of his win.
“I was excited!” “I yelled for her [girlfriend]. She didn’t know what was going on,” Smith said.
“I didn’t believe him,” his girlfriend said. “I had to read it twice and she had to read it [email] twice,” Smith added.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep and then I had to go to work,” he said.
Smith wanted to be sure to tell his family first about his big win and woke his mom up with the news. “She thought I was lying at first.”
“Everyone was happy for me,” he said.
Smith traveled to lottery headquarters in Louisville on Friday with his mom and girlfriend where he walked away with a check for $497,065.68 after taxes.
Smith told lottery officials he has no immediate plans and told officials he will put the winnings in his savings account for now.
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