A Morehead man plans to increase his son’s college fund after winning $225,000 on a Kentucky Lottery Scratch-off.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he recently bought three scratch-offs at the Quality Mart located on US 68 in Maysville, Ky. where he stopped for gas on his way to work.
He won $50 on each of the first two tickets and thought he would be taking home $100 until he got to the last row of numbers on his $10 $225,000 PAYDAY Scratch-off.
“I’m sure everyone has a way that they scratch off a ticket,” he told lottery officials. “I like to scratch the winning numbers at the top and go from there. I saw that ‘38’ was a winner and as these zeros kept appearing I knew this was going to be a big prize.”
The twenty-something health care worker said it took him about 10 minutes to realize that he had won the top prize on the ticket – $225,000. Sitting in his car at the gas pump, he said, “I just blacked out for a minute.”
He said he drove to work, secured and signed the winning ticket and when he got home, he put it in his gun safe. “I was anxious all day at work but felt better once I got it home and in my safe.”
The following day he drove to the Kentucky Lottery to claim his prize – walking away with $162,000 after taxes – he had planned to be on a small vacation with friends. “I figured I better sit tight and come cash this ticket,” he joked.
He plans to take his fiancée and their son on a summer vacation and put some of the winnings toward their son’s college fund.
Quality Mart will receive $1,620 for selling the winning ticket.
The $10 $225,000 PAYDAY launched April 3, 2025, and has two top-tier prizes and three $1,000 prizes remaining. There are nearly 2,000 $500 prizes still available on the game.
In 2024, the Kentucky Lottery paid out more than $1.5 billion in prizes. Kentucky Lottery proceeds have funded scholarships and grants for more than 1 million Kentucky college students.
