Iowa Lottery

Davenport Woman Expects $3,000 Prize, Wins $30,000 Instead

Joyce Schurke Wins Top Prize of $30,000 Playing "Crossword" Scratch Game

  Hear Joyce tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A Davenport woman was alone when she scratched her "Crossword" ticket and thought she only counted nine words, which would pay a $3,000 prize.

Joyce Schurke, 59, called her family to share her good news about winning a $3,000 prize, not knowing she'd actually won a top prize of $30,000.

"I called [my son] and I told him I had just won $3,000 on a lottery ticket," Schurke said. "So when he got home I asked him to check it for me."

Schurke's son told her she was in fact, wrong when she counted her words.

"He goes, 'Mom, it isn't right. You have ten words!'" Schurke said. "Then we went through every letter to make sure it was right!"

Schurke, who is a school bus driver, said when she discovered she'd won much more than she originally thought, she was so shocked that she started to shake.

"I called my mother and then my sisters and they all thought I was kidding at first," she said.

Schurke said Crossword is her favorite ticket, so she was extremely excited to win a top prize.

"I love Crosswords," Schurke said with a laugh as she claimed her prize Feb. 23 at the Iowa Lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Schurke said she plans to use some of her winnings to pay bills and is still thinking about how to use the rest. She purchased her winning ticket at Casey's, 222 Front St. in Buffalo.