Self-employed lottery player's big win is big news for his happy mother

By Kate Northrop

DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa man had the right idea to keep his $500,000 winning lottery ticket safe, but his mother was so thrilled by the news that she couldn't help but spread the word of his big win.

Justin Strother's big lottery win, whether he liked it or not, must have become the talk of the town after he broke the news to his mother, who was too excited to keep it a secret.

On April 4, the Iowa Lottery's $50 "$500,000 Ca$h" scratch-off game made its debut. Within just one week of sales, Strother had won the game's first top prize of $500,000.

While he technically did predict his own win, he did not seriously believe he would win the lottery.

"I work with two guys. I told them, just joking around, 'I'm going to go buy one and I'm going to hit the top prize,'" Strother told the Lottery, recounting the backstory of his win. "I told them that for three days straight. And then I went and did it. I called them and I said, 'You're not going to believe me, but I hit the top prize.'"

The self-employed flooring installer had an incredible stroke of luck when he stopped at As Food and Gas on Rockingham Road in Davenport to pick out a lottery ticket. He didn't wait very long to scratch it off and scanned the ticket at a self-check machine at the retailer.

When he discovered that a six-figure prize was hiding underneath the play area of the ticket, he ran outside to his car, where his wife was waiting for him.

"I got in the car, and I said, 'Kylie, go, go go! We've got to put this in the safe,'" the 33-year-old recalled. "She's like, 'What are you talking about?' I said, 'I just won half a million dollars!' She goes, 'No you didn't!' So I pulled it up on the app and she goes, 'Oh, my gosh!'"

Like mother, like son — just as Strother was excited to share the news of his win with his co-workers, his mother could not keep a secret and even went against her own advice.

"I showed her the ticket. She's like, 'Oh, my gosh.' She didn't even know what to do," Strother continued. "She even said, 'Don't tell anybody.' And then she told everybody."

Strother finally visited the Iowa Lottery at their headquarters in Clive on Tuesday to share the good news of his win there, too, and in doing so officially claimed the first $500,000 top prize of the $50 "$500,000 Ca$h" game.

Dubbing the win a "re-start button," Strother said that he and Kylie plan on using the prize to buy a three-bedroom house for themselves and their two children, a new pick-up truck, and a camper.

"It's a re-start to life," the winner said. "It's going to be debt-free for sure!"

Strother claimed the first $500,000 top prize out of the six available at the game's launch. All six second-tier prizes of $25,000 are unclaimed, and 53 out of 60 third-tier prizes of $5,000 remain.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Justin Strother's big lottery win, whether he liked it or not, must have become the talk of the town after he broke the news to his mother, who was too excited to keep it a secret.