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'She initially thought it was a scam': Louisville man wins $3M on scratch-off, has to convince significant other it's real

The man said he took a picture of the ticket with his phone and looked at it every day.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Lottery’s latest millionaire is a Louisville man that we'll never know. Lottery officials announced Monday the man won $3 million after purchasing a $30 Break Fort Knox scratch-off.

The ticket was purchased in September at Cox’s Smokers Outlet on Manslick Road in Louisville.

The man told lottery officials he screamed "Yahtzee" after realizing he had won. He said he scratched the ticket off from left to right and it was the third number to the last on the bottom row that matched.

“I doubled looked at it and then called my significant other. She initially thought it was a scam," he said.

The man said he took a picture of the ticket with his phone and looked at it every day.  

Although he bought the ticket last month, the Jefferson County man told officials he was getting everything in order before cashing it in. 

The anonymous winner chose to take the game’s lump sum cash payment of $2,244,00. He received a check for $1,593,240, after taxes.

He told lottery officials that he's planning to retire next year so his new windfall will help.

The Kentucky Lottery revealed its new 2021 holiday scratch-offs on Great Day Live on Monday.

Lottery officials announced in July, they have awarded more than $1 billion in prize money to winners of the Kentucky Lottery in fiscal year 2021. 

That's a record-setting year even though most of the world was shut down. The suits at Kentucky Lottery HQ have a theory about why they fared well during the pandemic. 

In the 32 year history of Kentucky's lottery, they've never seen sales this high! Their total sales for the fiscal year 2021 totaled $1.6 billion and the proceeds to the Commonwealth total $355 million. That's $76 million more than last year.

RELATED: Cash Option: Here's a look at what happens when a winning Kentucky Lottery ticket is redeemed

   

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