The winning Kentucky Lottery Hit the Jackpot ticket was given to Lori Janes through a white elephant gift exchange.
During the game, Janes was given a $25 TJ Maxx gift card, but another employee “stole” it from her.
After that, Janes took $25 worth of scratch cards from someone else.
“As soon as it reached me, it was finished and mine to keep. Everyone started advising me to scrape them off at that point,” Janes told the Kentucky lottery.
Janes started rubbing and her first ticket got her $50.
She next turned to the second ticket, a $10 Hit the Jackpot ticket, which revealed wins on all 15 of its places and gave her the top prize of $175,000 in the process.
“Everyone was losing their minds. People were checking with their calculators and using them again” explained Janes.
“To be certain, a few people scanned the ticket using the lottery’s app. I found it hard to believe. I received a winning gift exchange of $25 worth of cash, totaling $175,000.”
Janes claimed she spoke to her family, but they didn’t trust her word for it.
Janes’ husband said to Kentucky lottery authorities, “We thought she didn’t look at it right, but as we heard others in the background cheering, it became genuine.”
With her husband and two kids, Janes came to the Kentucky Lottery headquarters to pick up her award.
She received a check for $124,250 after taxes.
“This is nuts, man. I’m so blessed,” she remarked.
Janes plans on paying off her daughter’s education loans as well as the cars for the family.
