Virginia woman threw out lottery ticket worth $100,000

Comment #18

GiveFive — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 12:51:33 GMT

It's very odd that a Walmart sales associate would stop what they were doing, go through the trash and check tickets seconds after a player discarded them.

I'll second that statement. When I read the story I felt something was fishy or wrong. It's either that, or details were omitted from the story that explained the sales associates actions.

There's no doubt in my mind the clerk did the right or ethical thing. As far as a Walmart policy preventing an employee from accepting a reward goes... [ More ]

Comment #17

noise-gate — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 18:25:16 GMT

Maria has the Michael J Pollard cheeks. Distant relative perhaps

Comment #16

Stack47 — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 18:20:07 GMT

The honest clerk was a sales associate at the Walmart and obviously not in a store where players stand near or at a sales counter scratching tickets. Many states are going to lottery kiosk and here there usually is a waste basket next to them. Some, but not all are in eyesight from the sales counter.

To me it's very odd that a Walmart sales associate would stop what they were doing, go through the trash and check tickets seconds after a player discarded them.

It's possible a reward was of... [ More ]

Comment #15

GiveFive — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 13:52:46 GMT

The lady must surely know how lucky she really was.

How would you like to be the player in Florida who let a top prize Florida Fantasy5 ticket worth $234,432.93 EXPIRE? A winning top prize ticket was sold on 7/22/2017 in Inverness, Florida but was never redeemed at The Florida Lottery's Headquarters in Tallahassee. Adding insult to injury, the winning ticket was a Free Ticket. I hope that player does not know how unlucky they really were.

What's the biggest unpaid winning ticket you've see... [ More ]

Comment #14

Bleudog101 — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 13:51:41 GMT

That too was my very first thought and kept thinking maybe it'll be in the article later on.

Though rare indeed, when I win $600 on pick 3 or 4 here I give the clerk a $20. Honestly cannot remember how much the clerk got for the $5K win since she did the paperwork with my chicken scratch penmanship. (As for snail mail, the IRS paperwork came the NEXT day

Comment #13

hlamb — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 12:05:31 GMT

True

Comment #12

MillionsWanted — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 11:36:20 GMT

How is it even possible? I check my tickets(scratchers and lottery ones) carefully before throwing them away.

I'll bet a lot of money goes to clerks who checks tickets thrown away.

Comment #11

lakerben — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 02:35:43 GMT

Comment #10

Mata Garbo — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 02:32:34 GMT

A lot of those Crossword scratch off can be a little complicated for people who are not veteran players. I once almost threw away a $500 win because I did not realize that the $10 ticket I purchased had an extra bonus scratch area on the back of the ticket. Sometimes you have to take the time to actually read the instructions. She was very lucky. I would have given the honest clerk some type of monetary compensation.

Comment #9

hlamb — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:56:48 GMT

What gets me is, without the due diligence and honesty of the clerk the woman would not have won $100,000 and yet she doesn't say anything about rewarding the clerk for her keen eye and honesty. I understand wanting to take your family on a much needed vacation, but without the clerk a vacation with no worries about costs or upcoming bills probably would not be possible.

Comment #8

hlamb — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:51:37 GMT

It would not have been stealing if the woman threw it away, now if the clerk had told her it was a loser when it was really a winner that would be stealing.

Comment #7

Tony Numbers — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:13:37 GMT

I saw on a you tube video this guy would go through the garbage and would find winning scratchers that people threw away. Apparently the purchasers of said scratchers don't read the instructions on the ticket. Ironically the store that sells the tickets usually have a bar code reader. All one needs to do is uncover the bar code and scan the ticket. Heck you can do it on a smartphone

Comment #6

winterhug — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 23:55:51 GMT

I suspect the trash can was full at the time and when the customer tossed the ticket it was on top so the store clerk could see it. I am sure the store clerk has seen enough winning scratch off lottery tickets to know what one looks like. When she saw the customer throw the ticket away she spoke up instead of getting out the trash for herself once the customer left the store.

Comment #5

rcbbuckeye — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 21:35:12 GMT

Technically may not be stealing. But, there is a right from wrong.

The clerk was an honest person. Which is getting harder to find these days.

Comment #4

Tony Numbers — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 19:16:24 GMT

It isn't stealing. The customer threw the ticket away. What is amazing is what possessed the clerk to go in the garbage and return the tossed ticket to the customer.

Comment #3

hearsetrax — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 18:00:32 GMT

Rare clerk indeed... must've been tough to resist stealing

Comment #2

winwoman — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 17:49:37 GMT

So proud of the clerks honesty

Comment #1

s5thomps — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 17:35:17 GMT

Congrats! Glad it was caught in time

Virginia woman threw out lottery ticket worth $100,000

Lottery Post — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:55:42 GMT

Clerk's second glance saved the day

By Kate Northrop

A Virginia Lottery player was absolutely sure that her lottery tickets were losers so she threw them away, not realizing there was a winning ticket worth $100,000 among them.

Luckily for Maria Pollard of Chester, a lottery retailer clerk saved her from losing a tear-jerking $100,000 when she mistakenly tossed her tickets in the trash.

Pollard had stopped at the Walmart on Sheila Lane in Richmond and picked up three scratch-of... [ More ]