LINN COUNTY WOMAN STARTS NEW YEAR $50,000 RICHER

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Cindy Merritt Wins Top Prize Playing the "Midwest Millions" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Linn County woman's favorite scratch ticket paid off when she won the top prize of $50,000!

Cindy Merritt, 53, of Robins traded in two $10 winning "Midwest Millions" scratch tickets for new ones and was shocked when she won the top prize.

"I looked at it and I'm like, 'Oh, that's not right. I don't win like this!'" Merritt said.

Not believing she had won, Merritt called her mother to explain what had happened.

"I said, 'I think I won $50,000!' And she said, 'Are you going to confirm it or just worry about it?' And I said, 'It's snowing; I don't want to go back out!'" Merritt said.

But she did end up going back out to the store where she purchased the ticket to have it validated.

"They were just as excited as I was," Merritt said.

After having the ticket validated, Merritt called her husband Dennis to tell him the news. She said he didn't believe her at first, but he was excited when she finally convinced him.

Merritt, who currently works as a senior export specialist for Rockwell Collins, said she's dreaming of buying a new car with her winnings, but plans to put it in the bank until she and her husband decide how to use the money.

Merritt claimed her prize Thursday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She purchased her winning ticket at Casey's, 588 Boyson Rd. N.E. in Cedar Rapids.

Midwest Millions is a $10 scratch game with three play areas where players try to match like prize amounts or symbols to win prizes. The overall odds of winning in the game are 1 in 2.84.

Merritt claimed her prize just one week before the first Midwest Millions second-chance drawing on January 15. Players can mail in nonwinning Midwest Millions tickets for a chance to win one of five cash prizes of $10,000 as well as one grand prize of $500,000. Players can now mail in tickets for the second drawing, scheduled for April 15.

Four top prizes of $50,000 are still up for grabs in the Midwest Millions, as well as 18 prizes of $5,000 and more than 175 prizes of $500.

Since the Iowa Lottery's inception in 1985, its players have won more than $2.4 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.2 billion for state programs.