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Monroe City Man Wins $324,109 Show Me Cash Jackpot

An over-the-road truck driver has plans to buy his own big rig after winning a $324,109 Show Me Cash jackpot.  Marlin Downs of Monroe City said he frequently buys tickets for Show Me Cash and Powerball, as well as tickets in other states, when making deliveries across country.  But after recently being laid-off from a trucking company in Palmyra, it was a ticket he purchased at his local gas station that brought home his first big win. 
   
"I’m kind of glad it happened now, because I wouldn’t have been home to buy that ticket!" exclaimed Downs. 
   
Downs, 34, purchased a $5 Quick Pick ticket at Abel’s Quik Shop, 519 N. Main in Monroe City, on July 19.  He found out he was a winner when he stopped back into the store two days later. 
   
"I went to the gas station, bought a soda, and I had a couple of tickets in my pocket.  I scanned one of them and it said I won $2," recalled Downs.  "I was talking to a guy that I know there.  We mushroom hunt together quite a bit, and we were talking about how bad the season was.  I scanned the other one, and it said the amount.  I said, ’Whoa.’  I looked at him and said, ’Did you see that?’"
   
Downs scanned the ticket again and then confirmed his good luck with the clerk.  After telling his girlfriend, Missy, he had to bring her back to the store to prove he was telling the truth. 
   
"I was shaking from my toes to the top of my head," said Downs.  "Everything seems like a dream.  I’m hoping I don’t wake up from this." 
   
Downs was excited about the opportunity to become his own boss.  Once he buys a truck, he believes he can make more money while having more freedom over his schedule.     
   
"I’m going to buy my own semi now," he said.  "With this, I can run local; I can, you know, do whatever I want to do.  If I want to stay out for two weeks, I can stay out for two weeks.  If I want to come home and make a few dollars less, I can.  It’s my choice.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do."
   
Downs also indicated that the windfall would help them expand their home, help the kids "have a good Christmas," and that it would help with an immediate need – school clothes. 
   
When asked to comment on playing the Lottery, Downs said he would continue to buy tickets and offered this insight for other players. 
   
"It’s real," he said.  "I always questioned it, you know, because I never knew anybody.  I’ve never known anybody who won anything big.  I know there are numerous people out there who lie in bed at night and think about winning it and everything else.  You never know." 
   
Show Me Cash is a daily Numbers Game with jackpots that start at $50,000 and grow until someone wins.  This is the 100th winning jackpot awarded since the game began in September 2008.