Lottery player couldn’t believe he hit jackpot in South Carolina. ‘Now I’m debt free’
A lottery player couldn’t believe he hit the jackpot — and now, he has no more debt.
The man was skeptical about his big win, so he asked for a second opinion. That’s when he got confirmation that his ticket was worth $100,000, the South Carolina Education Lottery wrote in a Feb. 13 news release.
The winner tried his luck at a Shell gas station in Hardeeville, a roughly 20-mile drive northwest from Hilton Head Island. He spent $3 on a scratch-off ticket for the Lady Jumbo Bucks Crossword game, which features a word puzzle theme.
“His confidence grew with every word he spelled out,” lottery officials wrote.
The man, who wasn’t named in the news release, beat 1-in-600,000 odds to score one of the game’s seven top prizes. Three $100,000 prizes remain as of Feb. 13.
The lottery didn’t reveal how much he kept after taxes.
“The more words, the more money,” the prize winner said. “Now I’m debt free.”
It’s not the first time a lottery player has been left in disbelief. Another South Carolina winner thought an email about his prize was fake before learning it was the real deal, McClatchy News reported earlier in February.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 1:43 PM with the headline "Lottery player couldn’t believe he hit jackpot in South Carolina. ‘Now I’m debt free’."
