COLUMBIA, SC (March 26, 2026) – An Upstate man says if he hadn’t gone back for a straw for his drink, he wouldn’t have played the Lottery and won $500,000.
He was leaving the Dodge’s Store on S. Pendleton St. in Easley with some fried chicken and a drink, when he realized he didn’t have a straw. He ran back in the store to get one, and a lottery ticket caught his eye. Sitting in his car in the parking lot, he scratched the ticket and won half-a-million dollars.
“It was absolutely amazing,” the winner told South Carolina Education Lottery officials.
He says he drove straight home to tell his wife and the two headed to Columbia to cash in the winning ticket.
The couple is planning to use the windfall to pay on their house and finish some projects.
Three more top prizes of $500,000 remain in the 100X game at odds of 1 in 1,248,000.
Dodges Store #877 in Easley received a commission of $5,000 for selling the claimed ticket.
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