A quick visit to Break Time for cigars and a few Missouri Lottery Scratchers tickets proved to be a lucky errand for a Houstonia man. Eric Blackburn, 43, made the stop at 2801 W. Broadway in Sedalia on June 26, leaving the store holding a ticket worth $5,000.
According to Blackburn, he followed his own “superstitious” system while scratching off the winning “5X the Fortune” game in his pickup truck outside the store. While most players scratch off a ticket’s ‘Winning Numbers’ first, hoping to then find a match under the ‘My Numbers’ column, he generally does it a different way.
“I’m superstitious, and I do things weird,” he explained. “I scratch off ‘My Numbers’ first. Then I scratch the ‘Winning Numbers,’ and then I scratch off everything BUT what I won.”
He said saving the winning amount for last added a little excitement when he realized the prize tied to the “5X” symbol he had already uncovered was $1,000 – multiplying his total winnings to $5,000.
“I’ll keep a little for fun, but a majority of it will go for bills,” he said about plans for the unexpected prize money. “That’s a stress relief.”
“5X the Fortune,” which officially started March 27, is a $2 game offering a top prize of $25,000. Three top prizes, as well as thousands of prizes between $2 and $5,000, remain in play. Details about remaining prizes for all Missouri Lottery Scratchers games can be found at Molottery.com.
