Iowa Lottery

Keokuk Couple Goes Out For Coffee, Comes Home With $30,000 Lottery Prize

Sandy & Allen Hall Win Top Prize of $30,000 Playing "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear the Halls tell their story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A Keokuk couple went out for their usual coffee run and came back with a "Crossword" ticket that won them a $30,000 top prize.

Sandy and Allen Hall like to scratch their Crossword tickets together and never dreamed they'd win such a big prize.

"We kept scratching and we had three words and four and five," Sandy Hall said. "We got up to nine and I said, 'Oh, we're up to $3,000!' So we found ten and we couldn't believe it -- $30,000!"

Hall, 66, said she immediately got her shoes back on so she and Allen could go back to Casey's, 326 Main St. in Keokuk to have the ticket validated.

"He said, 'No, I think we have nine.' So he read them off to me and I wrote them down. We checked every letter in those words," Hall said. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it."

Hall said the cashier at the retailer couldn't believe what they'd won either.

"She said to another cashier, 'They won $30,000!' And I said, 'Woo hoo!'" Hall said.

Hall said she told most of her family and friends about the win, but it was hard to convince a few of them. She and Allen plan to use some of their winnings to purchase newer furniture.

The Halls claimed their prize Wednesday at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.