CLIVE, Iowa—A Boone County woman who scratched off a $50,000 lottery prize said her big win came with an unexpected side effect.
“I was so excited I couldn’t go to sleep,” Patricia Rubin said with a laugh on Tuesday as she claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Clive.
Rubin, of Ogden, won the sixth top prize in the Iowa Lottery’s “Super Cash” scratch game. She said her mother started playing the lottery this year, and that’s what inspired her to buy a ticket at Hy-Vee, 1111 Eighth St. in Boone, during a recent stop for groceries.
“I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it with her,’” Rubin said. “I hadn’t done this in a long time that I’ve bought a scratcher, especially a $5 scratcher.”
She played the ticket while her husband drove home, and quickly uncovered the big prize.
“It was $50,000, and I was screaming like I won a million dollars,” Rubin recalled with a laugh. “It’s mind-blowing. It’s just a random thing that made me stop and pick up this ticket. It’s a lot of fun to win a little bit of money. I’ve won $25, but I’ve never done this before.”
Rubin said she plans to invest most of her winnings for retirement and put some toward an upcoming family vacation to Disney World.
Super Cash is a $5 scratch game that features eight top prizes of $50,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.40. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com.