By Mitchell Clarke
A “spur-of-the-moment” decision to purchase a $4 instant Scratch-Its ticket has proved life-changing for one Pakenham woman, who pocketed a cool $50,000.
The winning $4 “Hippo Bingo Plus” ticket, purchased from the Pakenham Place News and Tatts on Main Street, was the biggest ever prize of its kind to be won at the outlet.
The ecstatic winner said she purchased the ticket after deciding to go for a walk up Main Street.
“I’ve never really been one to buy Instant Scratch-Its tickets, but while I was out, I thought ‘you know what, I could use a bit of good news’ and decided to buy one,” she explained.
“I didn’t think it was actually possible to win this sort of money. I couldn’t believe it!”
As the lucked out woman was scratching the ticket, she noticed she had all the winning numbers in a row – except one.
“Then the last number I scratched was the one I had been waiting for,” she said.
“I thought to myself ‘it’s not real’ and it took a couple of days for me to comprehend the news. It wasn’t until I went back to the newsagency to check my ticket, and they said ‘you know you have a big win here’ did I realise it was real.”
And while the thrilled winner had taken a couple of days to comprehend the news, she wasted no time in spending her new fortune.
“A couple of days before I won, I’d just committed to buying a new car. So the win has completely covered that for me, and I’ve got a brand new car to enjoy,” she said.
“It has just come at the perfect time for me.”
Pakenham Place owner Trish O’Lynn said she was thrilled that one of her customers had walked away with a major prize.
Ms O’Lynn has now begun telling loyal customers that the outlet had now officially sold a “big prize”.
“This is the first major Instant Scratch-Its prize we’ve sold and the biggest prize our outlet has seen,” she said.
“We’ve sold a few division two winning entries but nothing as exciting as this.”
