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Fiancé Buys Bride-to-Be Ticket Worth $250,000

A Ballwin bride-to-be received an early wedding gift from her fiancé on July 6.  Tracie Rogers, 30, said her fiancé, Robert Russell, wanted to surprise her with a Missouri Lottery Scratchers ticket.  The gesture left both Rogers and Russell in shock.

"He bought a CD," she recalled.  "He thought, he better not come home without something for me.  So, he bought me the Lottery ticket."

When asked to describe her feelings after she uncovered a $250,000 top prize on the "$250,000 Payout" Scratchers ticket, she joked, "I thought it was fake!"

"I was just shocked.  You always hear about people winning the big money on the Lottery, but you never meet anybody."

The almost-newlyweds immediately headed for QuikTrip, 14800 Manchester Road in St. Louis, where Russell had purchased the ticket minutes earlier, for confirmation of the win from a retail clerk.

"When we went back up to the gas station to make sure it was legit," she recalled.  "The lady was like, ’I just sold you this Lottery ticket.’"

As for how the couple will spend the windfall, Rogers has a plan. 

"We are going to definitely pay off our house.  That will be one big burden we won’t have to think about."

She had the following advice for fellow Lottery players still searching for the winning ticket, "It can happen to you!"

"$250,000 Payout," a $10 game with a top prize of $250,000, officially began on June 12.  Non-winning "$250,000 Payout" Scratchers tickets can be entered into the "Ticket to Ride" promotion offering players the opportunity to win new vehicles, free gasoline and more!