Lottery player unknowingly walked around with winning Iowa ticket for days
It’s typically Brandon Richey’s routine to collect a few lottery tickets before taking them to a convenience store to check if they are winners.
Sticking to his habits, days passed after the Dec. 15 Lucky for Life drawing as Richey unknowingly walked around with the winning ticket in his wallet, the Iowa Lottery said in a Jan. 6 news release.
While waiting for coffee to brew at a convenience store where stopped on his way to work, Richey decided to use the spare time to check his lottery tickets.
He scanned his Lucky for Life ticket and couldn’t believe what the scanner said. Richey had won the game’s second-biggest prize — $25,000 every year for the rest of his life, lottery officials said.
“I put it back in my billfold, paid for my coffee, and went to another convenience store to check it again,” he told lottery officials. “It said the same thing.”
Still shocked by his big win, the player went to work “more distracted than I should have been” at his serving job in West Des Moines that night, he told lottery officials.
The winning numbers for the Dec. 15 drawing were 9-12-22-36-45. Richey matched those five numbers, but he incorrectly guessed the Lucky Ball number, which was 3, officials said.
The winner, from Dallas Center, elected to receive his winnings in a $390,000 lump sum, according to the lottery.
He plans to pay off bills and invest his winnings for his future, he told officials.
“I’m very grateful,” he said.
Dallas Center is about a 30-mile drive northwest from Des Moines.
This story was originally published January 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Lottery player unknowingly walked around with winning Iowa ticket for days."
