Iowa lottery player carries ticket for days before discovering big win

A lottery player in Iowa carried a ticket in his pocket for days before realizing that he had won a big fortune.

Lucky for Life brings fortune to Iowa man

On Monday, the Iowa Lottery confirmed in a statement that Brandon Richey, a Dallas Center resident, scored a tier-two prize from Lucky for Life.

The incredibly fortunate central Iowa man won $25,000 a year for life, the second-biggest prize from Lucky for Life.

Richey purchased his winning ticket from Kum & Go at 3105 Grand Prairie Parkway in Waukee.

The man matched correctly the first five numbers from the Lucky for Life drawing on December 15, 2024, and only missed the Lucky Ball.

Had the lucky lottery player guessed the Lucky Ball too, he would've won the game's top prize, $1,000 a day for life.

Still, Richey was quite lucky and several days had passed before he even realized that he had won the sweet prize.

The lucky winner initially didn't believe he won

Speaking to Lottery officials, the lottery player recalled the day he realized he had won the mouth-watering prize from Lucky for Life.

Richey said that ahead of work, he stopped to get a coffee and decided to check the lottery ticket he purchased approximately a week ago.

To the man's surprise, the lottery self-checker confirmed that he had won $25,000 a year for life.

Initially, Richey didn't believe he won the hefty prize which is why he put the ticket back into his wallet and visited another store to check it again.

"It said the same thing," the Iowa man recalled, adding that although he still went to work on that day, he was quite distracted.

Visiting the Lottery headquarters in Clive, Richey had the option to collect $25,000 annually or benefit from a lump sum of approximately $390,000.

Although this was a difficult choice, the lottery player selected the lump cash sum.

When Richey was asked if he had any plans about the prize, he responded: "I'm just going to pay off some bills and probably invest all of the rest. I'm very grateful."

Iowa lottery players are on a winning streak, considering that several top prizes have been won by players across the state in the last few months from the multi-state Lucky for Life game.

Besides Richey's win from December, a fortunate player from Des Moines scored the game's top prize, $1,000 a day for life, back in November.

Before that, in October, another Des Moines lucky player scored $25,000 a year for life from Lucky for Life.

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