Ohio woman buys same lottery ticket as customer in front of her, wins $500,000 prize

Sep 3, 2024, 7:09 am (31 comments)

Ohio Lottery

Customer in line ahead brings winning ticket to the top of the stack

By Kate Northrop

BARBERTON, Ohio — An Ohio woman told the man in front of her while waiting in line that she was going to buy the same lottery ticket as him and ended up winning a $500,000 top prize.

A man in line at an Ohio lottery retailer bought a scratch-off game, unknowingly bringing a $500,000 top prize-winning ticket to the top of the stack for the woman behind him to buy next.

Carol Duncan of Barberton recalled the night she bought a winning ticket worth $500,000, sharing the exchange between herself and another customer that led to the win.

She was waiting in line at the Circle K convenience store on 5th Street in Barberton to purchase a lottery ticket.

"There's a guy in front of me, and he got the same ticket that I got," Duncan told the Ohio Lottery. "I told him, 'I'm getting the same ticket.' I said that, and mine won $500,000."

She was absolutely blown away when she uncovered a six-figure prize in the $10 "$500,000 Cashword" scratch-off game.

"I had to keep looking it over and over," Duncan continued. "I thought I won it before, but it was a mistake."

While the unknown man in front of her may not have had great timing with his lottery purchase, the win came at a perfect time for Duncan, who retired a month ago. She plans on using the winnings to buy herself a house, a car, and another car for her son.

Now that Duncan has claimed her prize, just one more top prize of $500,000 remains in the $10 "$500,000 Cashword" scratch-off game. There are also 11 second-tier prizes of $10,000 and 328 third-tier prizes of $1,000 still available.

The overall odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.69.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

Onelast8

It's all about right place right time and more importantly right Ticket.

lottobrain's avatarlottobrain

Sounds like "rubbing salt in the wound" if he knew that to me. And she probably went back to that store and told them what happened, and if that guy is a regular customer, he should remember her and have heard the story by now.  If so, from now on he will always buy 2 tickets to make sure the next one doesn't get him again.  Since she appears to like bragging about it, if he sees her again, he could ask for a tip to give her a chance to really show her true colors.

Lets-win's avatarLets-win

If someone says that to me. I'm buying two tickets!

Tony Numbers's avatarTony Numbers

The fact is there's always a (sucker) customer behind you that's going to purchase the next ticket. This story could be completely fabricated

Cashier$'s avatarCashier$

What an arrogant thing to do. I would buy all the rest of the tickets on the roll.😁

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

Quote: Originally posted by Cashier$ on Sep 3, 2024

What an arrogant thing to do. I would buy all the rest of the tickets on the roll.😁

Yea that is the only way I can think to 'stop' other players from doing that.  It was very arrogant of her to do (1st - come out and tell him she is gonna do it, 2nd BRAG about it after).  She didnt even mention in the article anything about wanting to see the customer again to say thanks! 

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Quote: Originally posted by Cashier$ on Sep 3, 2024

What an arrogant thing to do. I would buy all the rest of the tickets on the roll.😁

How is that arrogant? If someone said that to me, I would say "good luck." And why should she be thanking the guy? She made the decision to purchase that ticket. 

More than a few sore losers on LP. 🤣

cottoneyedjoe's avatarcottoneyedjoe

Quote: Originally posted by Cashier$ on Sep 3, 2024

What an arrogant thing to do. I would buy all the rest of the tickets on the roll.😁

And as you leave with your purchase the clerk gets another roll from back office. 😅

cottoneyedjoe's avatarcottoneyedjoe

Quote: Originally posted by Tony Numbers on Sep 3, 2024

The fact is there's always a (sucker) customer behind you that's going to purchase the next ticket. This story could be completely fabricated

💯

Cashier$'s avatarCashier$

Whether or not the woman won anything on the next ticket is irrelevant and I am certainly not a sore loser. I usually wish people ahead of me and behind me good luck when I play my tickets. I met a woman at Publix that was on a roll and I was very happy for her. We talked for a while and wished her many more big wins. That being stated, I just felt it was a tacky thing to say to someone she doesn't even know.

I do wish good luck for you and everyone on this site. Looking forward to hearing about one or more members winning big!

DELotteryPlyr's avatarDELotteryPlyr

Quote: Originally posted by Artist77 on Sep 3, 2024

How is that arrogant? If someone said that to me, I would say "good luck." And why should she be thanking the guy? She made the decision to purchase that ticket. 

More than a few sore losers on LP. 🤣

your not a true scratch off player - lots of superstitions.

Artist77's avatarArtist77

False. A few posters referred to the woman in the story as arrogant.  I love it how🤣 a few members get upset when someone wins, find a way to put the winner down, then (when called out for their jealousy) claim they are happy for the winner. 

And any bizarre personal superstition does not make the woman arrogant.  I think her positivity and enthusiasm helped her win.

Tony Numbers's avatarTony Numbers

Scratch offs are different from draw games in that the winning tickets are predetermined. They print so many tickets and distribute them throughout the state, winning a jackpot is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's irrelevant that the winner announced she was going to purchase the next ticket.It could have gone the other way.Its just coincidental that she made the announcement and won

Artist77's avatarArtist77

Quote: Originally posted by Tony Numbers on Sep 4, 2024

Scratch offs are different from draw games in that the winning tickets are predetermined. They print so many tickets and distribute them throughout the state, winning a jackpot is like finding a needle in a haystack. It's irrelevant that the winner announced she was going to purchase the next ticket.It could have gone the other way.Its just coincidental that she made the announcement and won

💯

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