CEDAR RAPIDS WOMAN WINS $50,000 LOTTERY PRIZE ON A WHIM

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Lori Bratton Wins Big Playing the "Double Payday" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – After leaving an Iowa lottery ticket in her purse for a week, a Cedar Rapids woman decided to play it and won a $50,000 prize.

Lori Bratton said she bought a "Double Payday" instant scratch ticket the day of her daughter's graduation party, but didn't play it until Friday, more than a week after her purchase.

Bratton was at her husband's office when she scratched the card.

"I was just sitting there waiting for him, and I thought, 'I'll just scratch this off,' and I did. It took me a few times looking at it. And I said to my husband, 'I think I just won $50,000,'" she said.

Bratton put the ticket in her freezer over the weekend to keep it safe.

Bratton, 47, a receptionist for Riccolo and Semelroth PC Lawyers in Cedar Rapids, claimed her prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids. She bought her winning ticket at Kwik Shop, 3301 J St. in Cedar Rapids.

Bratton said she and her husband are planning to pay off debts with the money and spoil their daughters.

"One is 18 and one is 21. My elder daughter was really excited, but my younger one was a little skeptical like my husband," she said.

Bratton said she typically does not play $5 scratch tickets, but decided to this time.

"The guy in front of me bought one, and I just thought, 'Oh, I'll just take that next one,'" she said.

Bratton said she plans to keep playing the lottery.

Double Payday consists of an instant-scratch ticket on the front and a pull-tab game on the back. The ticket has three play areas on the front of the ticket and four tabs that can be pulled open on the back. Overall odds of winning are about 1 in 3.85.

Eight prizes of $50,000 are still up for grabs in Double Payday as well as 82 prizes of $1,000, more than 220 prizes of $250 as well as 740 prizes of $100.

Since the Iowa Lottery's start in 1985, its players have won more than $2.2 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.1 billion for state programs.