ALEXANDRIA, Ky. — Michael Allen and his wife Sheila are Kentucky's newest millionaires.
On Wednesday, Michael won the $1 million top prize of a $20 Mega Millionaire Scratch-off.
“I stopped at a couple of places. At the first one, I bought a couple of Scratch-offs but didn’t win. Then I stopped in Speedway in Alexandria and bought the ticket,” Michael Allen said, referring to his winning Scratch-off. “I usually just scratch the bottom and then scan them to see if I’ve won.”
According to a press release from the Kentucky Lottery, the clerk scanned the ticket to see if it was a winner and told Michael she hadn’t seen the message before.
“She said, ‘It says See KLC.’ And I said, ‘What does Kentucky Fried Chicken have to do with this?’” Michael said.
Officials say KLC stands for Kentucky Lottery Corporation and is displayed when a prize is too large to be paid at a retail location.
Michael then scanned his ticket at the ticket checker and saw an amount of $871,000 pop up.
“I took a picture of it three times because I was afraid it would go away,” he said.
Michael told lottery officials he then called his wife, who didn't believe him.
“He’s always joking around so I thought for sure it wasn’t true,” Sheila said. “But then he got home and showed me. I said, ‘Oh my God.’ I was so shocked, I couldn’t sleep.”
Michael told lottery officials that he wasn't surprised. He told them he had been talking about when he was going to "win it big" and felt it was "coming soon."
The married couple made their way to the Louisville headquarters to claim the prize.
“Can you pinch me?” Michael asked lottery officials.
According to a press release from the Kentucky Lottery, Michael chose the lump sum cash option and walked away with a check for $622,765 after taxes.
When officials asked how him and his wife plan to use the money, he replied "it won’t change a thing."
“We’ll still work, and life will stay the same," Michael said.
Officials say Speedway #7408 in Alexandria will receive $10,000 for selling the winning ticket.
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