Iowa Lottery

94-Year-Old Player Wins Prize Of A Lifetime

Betty O'Brien Wins Top Prize of $10,000 Playing the "Scrabble™" Scratch Game

  Hear Betty tell her story.

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DES MOINES, Iowa - A 94-year-old Des Moines woman said she has won the prize of a lifetime.

Betty O'Brien won a top prize of $10,000 playing the lottery's "Scrabble™" instant-scratch game.

"You couldn't imagine how I felt when I was scratching that ticket," O'Brien said.

O'Brien was home alone when she scratched her ticket.

"I thought, 'Well, what am I going to do?'" O'Brien said.

She immediately called her daughter, Patty, about her big win.

"I said, 'Are you sitting down?' And she said, 'No.' So I said, 'Well, sit!'" O'Brien said with a laugh as she claimed her prize July 6 at the Iowa Lottery's headquarters in Des Moines. "And then I told her and she just about fell off of the chair."

O'Brien said she hid her ticket at home before claiming her prize.

"Every once in a while when I got lonesome, I'd take it out and look at it," she said. "It's hard to believe. When I saw $10,000, I couldn't believe it."

O'Brien said she plans to use some of her winnings to pay bills.

"I win a little bit every week, but nothing like this," she said.

She purchased the winning ticket at Dahl's, 4343 Merle Hay Road in Des Moines.

 

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