“It couldn’t have come at a better time,” the winner of a $50,000 Scratchers prize in Kansas City laughed. “It does happen. A miracle is out there somewhere.
“My birthday is coming up soon and I’m getting together with my friends to celebrate,” he added.
The winner shared how a “Bonus Word Crossword” game had caught his eye on the digital display screen at bp, 2101 E. 39th St. in Kansas City, so he decided to try his luck.
“I said to myself, ‘One of these days I'm going to win,’” he recalled.
To his amazement, he soon realized he was holding a winning ticket.
“I started to connect all the words,” he explained. “I thought, ‘Ok, that's pretty good. I got that one…and another one…’ I said, ‘I might be onto something!’”
He had spelled his way to a $50,000 prize by uncovering 11 hidden words on the ticket.
“Bonus Word Crossword” currently offers over $7.1 million in unclaimed prizes, including two more $50,000 top prizes.
In FY22, players in Jackson County won more than $103.1 million in Missouri Lottery prizes, retailers received more than $9.3 million in commissions and bonuses, and more than $50.2 million in Lottery proceeds went to educational programs in the county.
