OTTUMWA MAN IN DISBELIEF OVER $30,000 LOTTERY PRIZE

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Jonnie Thompson Wins Top Prize Playing the "Jingle Bell Crossword" Scratch Game

DES MOINES, Iowa – An Ottumwa man was thrilled and astonished when he discovered his $30,000 win playing the lottery's "Jingle Bell Crossword" instant-scratch game.

Jonnie Thompson, 56, said he typically doesn't choose to play the Crossword games, but it seems it has become his lucky ticket.

"I scratched the ticket and I counted ten words, and I counted it again – ten words. I still couldn't believe it, so I said, 'Here, take a look at this ticket and you count the words,' to my wife Cindy. She counted ten words and started hyperventilating!" Thompson said.

Even after discovering his win, Thompson was still in shock.

"Even later that night and Sunday, the next day, I kept sitting in the chair going, '$30,000?' I still don't believe it's there," he said.

Thompson claimed his prize Monday at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines.

Shortly after discovering the win, Thompson's son arrived home. Thompson said his son initially thought he had said $3,000 until he took a look at the ticket.

"We said, 'You better look again!' And then his eyes got real big. It was pretty neat; it's been a good experience," Thompson said.

Thompson then took the ticket back to the store where he bought it to have the ticket validated. Thompson said he's known the employees there for a long time.

"We know them all and they were pretty thrilled. They call themselves 'The Home of the Winners.' I believe it now!" he said. He bought his winning ticket at Quick Shop Foods, 405 S. Madison in Ottumwa. Quick Shop Foods has sold five winning tickets with prizes of $10,000 or more since December 2008!

Since discovering the win, Thompson has also told his brother-in-law and a few of the nurses at the hospital where he receives dialysis treatments. The nurses used to tease Thompson about buying lottery tickets.

"Now they were all rubbing my head for any kind of luck they think they might get," Thompson said.

Thompson said he considers himself a lucky person.

Thompson plans to use some of the money to buy an all terrain vehicle for his son, as well as pay bills. He added that he truly believes in the phrase, "You can't win if you don't play."

"I'm testimony to that. I'm going to shoot for $50,000! This isn't the last trip I'm going to make here," Thompson said.

Jingle Bell Crossword is a $3 scratch game. Players win a prize by uncovering at least three complete words in the ticket's puzzle. If a player uncovers 10 words, he/she wins $30,000. The overall odds of winning in the game are about 1 in 4.

Nine prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Jingle Bell Crossword as well as 15 prizes of $3,000, more than 155 prizes of $300 as well as more than 770 prizes of $100.

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