Kentucky Man’s $20 Gamble Turns Into a $500K Holiday Jackpot

A Lexington resident is kicking off the holiday season with a life-changing win after purchasing a $20 Jackpot Frost scratch-off ticket. Opting for a pricier ticket than his usual $5 choice, the anonymous winner decided to try his luck during his commute home. Little did he know, that decision would lead to a $500,000 jackpot.

“I had $20 in my wallet, and since Christmas is around the corner, I thought, why not get a ticket?” he shared with lottery officials. The ticket, bought at a Kroger on Nicholasville Road, turned out to hold the game’s top prize. Jackpot Frost players aim to match their numbers with one of “Jack’s” eight winning numbers, with additional “frost bonuses” boosting potential payouts. Although the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 2.96, most payouts range between $20 and $100—making this jackpot win particularly rare.

The man recounted the thrilling moment he scratched the ticket: “The first spot was a 20X multiplier with a prize of $1,500. I did the math and realized that alone was $30,000. Then I scratched again and matched another spot for $10,000. That’s when I knew this was going to be huge.”

Unable to calculate the total on his phone, he scanned the ticket to confirm the stunning news. After calling his mom in disbelief, his next call was to his boss to arrange time off for a trip to the lottery’s headquarters in Louisville. “My boss texted later asking, ‘You are planning on coming back, right?’” he laughed.

On December 9, the man received a post-tax payout of $360,000. While the amount isn’t enough for retirement, he plans to invest it wisely and continue working. Meanwhile, the Kroger store that sold the winning ticket earned a $5,000 bonus for its role in the lucky event.

This major win isn’t the only recent Kentucky Lottery success. Earlier this week, a Nicholasville player struck it big with a $50,000 scratch-off ticket, proving the season of giving can indeed be full of surprises.

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