HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. — For Steven Tuttle of Flat Rock, North Carolina, the recent gas shortage almost cost him a $1 million lottery prize.
He usually gets his gas at the Ingles on Highland Lake Road in Flat Rock, but had stopped going there when the price rose during the shortage.
"I almost didn't stop," Tuttle said. "When I saw that the price of gas had dropped back down, I turned around."
While he was there, Tuttle decided to get a $1,000,000 Bonus Cash scratch-off ticket.
He scratched the $10 ticket while getting gas. When he realized he won, Tuttle was so shocked he stopped filling up his tank.
"I didn't know what to do," Tuttle said. "I got into my truck and locked the door. To think I came that close to not stopping."
He claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.
Tuttle had the choice of taking a $1 million annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum and after federal and state tax withholdings received $415,503. He plans to use the money to pay off his house.
$1,000,000 Bonus Cash launched in July with four top prizes of $1 million. Two top prizes remain.
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"I didn't know what to do"....."I got in my truck and locked the door"
!!!!
That is EXACTLY how you feel, that is sooo funny!
Great story and I'm happy he turned around and went back.
WTG Tuttle!!
WOW now that's worth turning around for. Congrads Mr. Tuttle WTG
Love the reaction. Congrats on your win. :)
Nice!
with scratch offs you have to go to the right store at the right time and buy the right ticket. 3 tough hurdles to get past to win. now did he set the automatic gas tank dispensing nozzle so he could scratch the ticket while it dispensed the gas or did he hold the trigger with his left hand while scratching the ticket with his right hand. that would be sick. i'm guessing the former and he just stopped the auto pumping (which stops when tank is full by itself) midstream and jumped in his truck and locked it (who would know he had just scratched a winning ticket) because he was worried about theft apparently. whatever he did it worked and just goes to show you how much luck plays into it.
So let me ge this straight. He didn't want to get gas because he thought the price was too high, yet he had no issues with spending $10.00 on a scratch ticket?
I see nothing wrong with his logic. Paying for a scratch ticket is entertainment that can yield lots of money. Paying too much for gas throws money in the garbage, with no entertainment value. The guy has his priorities straight, as far as I'm concerned.
I think it 's awesome that he won but have to disagree about his priorities, necessity (gas) over entertainment (lottery)
He made out with both deals... he got his gas cheaper and in so getting it cheaper he could afford to buy a 10.00 scratch off..... I think he made a smart move...
Steven stopped filling up gas the minute he discovered he had won..Yes! That's the reaction one would expect. Everything grinds to a halt when you know you a winner. Congratulations Steven.
Btw- people stop off at gas stations all the time to just use the restroom, no different than picking up a scratcher.
Considering most scratchers are losing tickets, it's my opinion that If a man is that frugal with his money, the last thing he would do is risk 10 dollars. In his case I guess he got lucky, but most people would lose that 10 bucks.
Kind of reminds me of people who go to a fast food chain and order a Big Mac, large fries, apple pie, and a diet coke.
Some people have a thing about getting gas for a low price per gallon. It doesn't make him cheap, or poor or crazy.
Maybe he's mad at companies who sell gas for .05/.10 higher and it's a principle thing.
You are not going to get anything from buying gas except getting to work, to the store or to where ever you have to go.
Buying a lottery ticket for $10 isn't such a big deal, you could get lucky just like he did. And you could lose but taking
a chance on it is the only way you're going to win.
Now if the store had a sign like WE SELL LOTTERY TICKETS HERE and he turned around to get one, I'd be thinking,
wow that's kinda weird especially if that was a station he purposely avoided.
They happened to have lottery tickets, he happened to buy one, he happens to like cheaper gas and he happened to win.
It reminds me of people who go out to buy their favorite ticket and the bin is empty and they choose the one next to it
and win $1,000,000. Everything to do with chance, nothing to do with cheap.
Good story.
Big Mac 540 kcal
Large Fries 500 kcal
Apple Pie 250 kcal
Coke 310 kcal vs 0 kcal
Total of 1600 kilocalories vs 1290 kilocalories
If you want to spend your calories on something more substantial than softdrinks then why not? I'm waiting for the day the quarter pounder doesn't have any calories, personally.
If I had to decide between gas and scratchers I would have gone with a QP for Powerball or Megmillions, Scratchers are way to expensive.
maybe so, but he wanted instant gratification from his lottery purchase. proof of that is that he couldn't even wait to scratch it until after he gassed up. he multi-tasked it and probably was on the phone at the same time. some people buy their pball/mega and patiently wait for the drawing. others cannot wait which is why there are 70 different kinds of scratch tickets behind most counters for the instant gratifcation crowd which far outnumbers the patient ones.