Couple tests Quick Picks vs. chosen numbers theory and winds up with favorable result

By Kate Northrop

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky couple won a $225,000 Cash Ball 225 lottery prize using a set of sweet and sentimental numbers near and dear to them.

A retired couple won a $225,000 prize in Cash Ball 225, a lottery game local to Kentucky, after picking up the game a year ago.

The husband-and-wife pair, who wished to remain anonymous, will purchase three plays on their tickets. The first set is their usual set of personal numbers, and the second two lines are Quick Picks.

They had purchased their Cash Ball 225 tickets at B Quick Marathon on Upper Hunters Trace in Louisville for the Aug. 22 drawing. Cash Ball 225 is an in-state draw game that awards a $225,000 top prize to players who match all four white ball numbers plus the Cash Ball number.

"What I loved about our win is the numbers that we won on were the numbers that I picked," the wife told the Kentucky Lottery. "His birthday. My birthday and our anniversary date."

Turns out, they beat those 1 in 1.3 million odds, not with the two Quick Picks on their ticket, but with their personal numbers. However, they had no idea until three days after the Aug. 22 had taken place.

"Because we buy our tickets for 7 days, I usually check them when I get around to it," the wife explained to Lottery officials.

 At 6:45 a.m. one day, they were up bright and early to do some yardwork, followed by a few cups of coffee after a job well done.

"We were just sitting around after the yard work, and I decided to get another cup of coffee and head up to my room where I keep the tickets," she recalled in a press release. "I checked our tickets and there it was."

At that point, she asked her husband to come upstairs and asked him, "Would you check this for me?"

He gave the ticket a look, but something didn't feel right. He wouldn't be convinced until someone from the Lottery could give it the final say.

"My reaction?" the husband began. "I'll be perfectly honest with you. My reaction — because I'm a little skeptical — was 'I won't believe this until we get to the Lottery office and see.' She is the one who plays the Lottery and buys our tickets. She is the lucky one."

They made the trip to Lottery headquarters in Louisville, and that's where it truly sunk in. Their ticket was validated, and after taxes, they walked out of the building with a check for $162,000.

"When we gave the person here at the Lottery our ticket and she scanned it for us and said 'Congratulations,' I said, 'hot dang we won!'" the husband exclaimed.

With the winnings, the couple plans on making some home renovations, but the wife said she might purchase a new car since she's had her current one for years.

"Since I'm the one who buys the tickets, I might buy him four new tires," she quipped.

For selling the winning ticket, the retailer received a $2,250 bonus commission.

The odds of winning the top prize in Cash Ball 225 by matching all four white ball numbers plus the Cash Ball are 1 in 1,309,000. Drawings take place every day at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time or 10:00 p.m. Central Time. Tickets cost $1 and are available in person or online.

All winning numbers, prizes, and odds are published on Lottery Post's Kentucky Lottery Results page right after each drawing.