COLUMBIA, SC (May 8, 2024) – Number 13 was lucky for a Grand Strand lottery player.
It was on March 13th when she bought ticket number 13 and matched the winning number 13 for a $50,000 win.
And that’s not all that’s unusual.
The store where she got the ticket, the Refuel at 1385 E. Hwy. 501 in Conway, had just opened. They had only been selling lottery tickets for five days.
According to the area’s Lottery Marketing Sales Representative Monique Burgess, the store made history when it sold the top prize winning ticket so fast. “This has never happened that quick in my 19 years with the Lottery,” Burgess said.
Refuel’s Manager Samantha Hatoway was just as surprised when she found out the store had achieved lucky store status in record time. “Wow!” she said.
The winner told lottery officials that she had been watching them build the new convenience store, and was coming back from the airport when she saw it was open. So she stopped in to get something to drink.
“I was thirsty,” she said. “I got a drink and was waiting at the register and looking at all the lottery tickets. I had a few extra dollars, so I got two tickets.”
Sitting in her car, she scratched off the $50,000 win and then texted her loved ones a photo of the $2 ticket to be sure she was seeing it right.
“They joked that 13 must be my lucky number,” she said.
For selling the claimed ticket, Refuel #63 in
Conway received a commission of $500.
Five top prizes of $50,000 remain in the $2 Jumbo Bucks game at odds of 1 in 600,000.
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