DES MOINES MAN TRANSFORMS $5 INTO $50,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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David Murphy Wins First Top Prize Playing the "Funky 5's" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Des Moines man decided to take his $3 win from a "Crossword" scratch game and use it toward trying out the new "Funky 5's" instant-scratch game -- and the win was much more than he ever expected.

David Murphy won the first top prize of $50,000 playing the Funky-5's scratch game, which was just released June 23.

"I was just going to get another Crossword, but I looked in the case and saw that Funky 5's and was like, 'Oh, I'll try it out,' and I went ahead and got it. I got in the car and started scratching it, and it wasn't looking very promising because the first three words weren't matches, and then all of a sudden it was $50,000, $50,000, $50,000!" said Murphy.

Murphy, 29, was in his car with a friend when he scratched the ticket, and said his friend didn't believe him at first.

Murphy and his friend were on their way to see a movie, so he couldn't tell anyone but his roommate about his win after getting home from the movie around 11 p.m.

"He couldn't believe it. He started being loud; I had to keep him quiet so he didn't upset the neighbors," Murphy said with a laugh as he claimed his prize Thursday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines.

Murphy bought his winning ticket at Git-N-Go Convenience Store, 5736 Franklin Ave. in Des Moines.

Murphy said he plans to use his winnings to pay off his new car, pay other bills, and "just make things easier."

Funky 5's is a $5 scratch game with three different money-themed play areas on each ticket. Prizes in the game range from $5 to $50,000.

Twelve top prizes of $50,000 are still up for grabs, as well as 570 prizes of $500 and more than 2,260 prizes of $150.

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.