Man wins $150,000 a year for the rest of his life after buying $5 scratch card
We've all tried tried our luck at buying a scratch card and hoping we'd get lucky and make a nice profit.
But of course, this usually involves us spending $5 a pop to walk out of the supermarket or news agency empty-handed.
However, once in a blue moon, you hear a remarkable story when some lucky person has managed to win a massive amount of money to the point where they don't have to worry about their finances ever again.
Gary Thomas is one of those after he paid just $5 for a scratch card at Lotto Discount Liquor in Campbellton, Florida, which is near the Alabama border.
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Gary's ticket was certainly a lucky one, as he had the option of picking up $150,000 a year for the rest of his life or receiving a one-off lump sum off $2,440,000.
It's certainly a tricky decision, but Gary decided to receive his winnings in one lump-sum, something he claimed at the Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee.
As you'd probably expect, Gary was all similes as he received his oversized check at the Florida headquarters, knowing his life had been turned upside down.
Beaming over new fortune, Gary said: "It's still sinking in. I couldn't believe it! I still can't believe it!"
While Gary will be over the moon with his winnings, his winning ticket from Lotto Discount Liquor, located at 5837 US Highway 231 in Campbellton, will also receive a $4,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
It comes after store owners became millionaires after selling a winning $1.7 billion Powerball ticket.
The winning numbers which have made one Californian resident an overnight billionaire - and the second-largest Powerball jackpot winner in history - came in as: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and a Powerball number of 10.
The Powerball draw was held on Wednesday (11 October) in the Florida Lottery Draw Studio in Tallahassee.
But it's not just the lucky ticket winner who benefits from the draw.
Nidal 'Andy' Khalil and his brother who run the family-owned Midway Market & Liquor store in Frazier Park are set to receive an exciting $1 million as a result of their shop selling the winning ticket.
Khalil only found out the shop had sold the winning ticket 'through social media' and he initially 'didn't even believe it'.
He told the Post: "I think this could be the biggest thing that’s ever happened at Frazier Park.
"I hope it is one of my regular customers because we have a few who buy tickets every day."
Callum Jones