Monopoly scratchcard player wins $50k
Tuesday March 8th 2011A 40-year-old Missouri man has become the first person to win $50,000 on the state's Monopoly scratchcard game. Anthony Graham, of Sikeston, occasionally buys an instant scratchcard before he begins a shift at the city's Food Giant convenience store. On March 2 he did just that, and the result changed his life.
Not only did Mr Graham pick a winner, but he managed to scoop the jackpot prize, becoming the first player to do so since the Monopoly game was launched last year.
Mr Graham said: "I looked at it about 12 times, then I took it up to our assistant manager, Ryan, and he just said, 'You better get to St Louis.'"
He took his manager's advice and made the trip to the Missouri Lottery's headquarters the following morning to claim his jackpot prize. Mr Graham said he plans to take most of the money and place it in a bank account before deciding how it will be spent.
He did tell lottery officials that he intends to spend his retirement "sitting back and relaxing".
Released at the beginning of December 2010, the $3 instant scratchcard game from the Missouri Lottery now has nine top $50,000 prizes remaining, along with four $25,000 prizes and seven $10,000 prizes.
Written by Peter Kirkham