John Wines, 65, of New Mexico bought a $20 scratch off ticket at a gas station on December 6. Eager to scratch, Wines immediately got down to business in his car. To his delight, the ticket was a fucking GOLD MINE. He not only hit $250,000, he hit that shit twice. Oh, lucky day! Or so he thought…
According to Fox News:
When his effort appeared to reveal four prizes – two of $250,000, one for $75 and another for $50, he excitedly ran back in to present it to the cashier.
“She scanned it in the machine and told me it isn’t a winner,” Wines, 65, told FoxNews.com. “I couldn’t believe it.”
It turned out the ticket bore at least two critical misprints above the $250,000 jackpots. Wines’ winning numbers, listed on another portion of the ticket, were 1 and 2. If either of those appeared above the prize, the ticket is a winner. Wines’ ticket appeared to show a 1 above both of the six-figure payouts, but an abbreviation code for the single-digit numbers did not match. It indicated that one was supposed to be a 12 and the other an 18. On each, the second digit was just a tiny smudge.
Wines called the state lottery, where officials offered him $100 worth of free tickets, but flatly refused to pay out what Wines sought.
The emotional roller coaster of thinking I won $500,000, to almost immediately being told all I get is $100 in lotto tickets would have definitely made me snap. I’m stewing just sitting here contemplating that outcome. I know $500,000 isn’t what it used to be, but it’s still $500,000. Yeah…I think I would commit real murder. Or at the very least leave the gas station attendant with two shattered femurs. Because if I don’t get my $500K, you don’t get to walk, motherfucker.
[H/T Fox News]