A lottery player followed her gut — and it led her to a huge windfall in South Carolina.
“It was unexpected,” the winner told the S.C. Education Lottery. “I ran out of the store and went straight home.”
The surprise $500,000 win came after the woman stopped at the SM Mart in Georgetown, a roughly 40-mile drive southwest from Myrtle Beach. She was leaving the “convenience store when something told her to turn around and get two scratch-offs,” lottery officials wrote in an April 11 news release.
The woman’s intuition paid off big time. One of her tickets beat 1-in-960,000 odds to score the top prize in the 100X the Cash game.
“It’s changed my bank account, but it hasn’t changed me,” said the woman, who spent $10 on her lucky ticket.
The lottery player, who wasn’t identified in the news release, kept $347,500 after taxes, spokesperson Holli Armstrong told McClatchy News in an email.
It’s not the first time a lottery player felt drawn to buy a winning ticket. In North Carolina, a man’s “instinct” led him to a jackpot win, McClatchy News reported in October.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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