His strategy paid off — then Missouri lottery player ‘worried’ about losing $4M ticket

One Missouri lottery player says a strategy may be to thank for his big win of the top prize on a Scratchers game.

“I like going online and seeing where the top prizes are,” the player told Missouri Lottery officials of his idea to check unclaimed prizes. “Looks like it worked!”

He likes to check where the prizes are before making his ticket choice, he said.

The winner was “in disbelief” when he won a $4 million Scratchers prize from a ticket he purchased in Gladstone, lottery officials said in a news release.

After seeing his grand prize, the anonymous winner was in shock.

“You don’t really believe it,” he said in the release. “You think it’s fake – it’s too surreal.”

Once the shock wore off, his practicality sank in.

“I was worried I would lose it!” he told officials.

But he didn’t — Instead, the lucky player claimed his prize at the lottery’s St. Louis office.

Gladstone is a suburb of Kansas City.

This story was originally published April 8, 2022 at 9:09 AM with the headline "His strategy paid off — then Missouri lottery player ‘worried’ about losing $4M ticket."

Mariah Rush

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Mariah Rush is a National Real-Time Reporter. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has previously worked for The Chicago Tribune, The Tampa Bay Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.