Dad wanted to beat daughter’s past Idaho lottery win. His prize was ‘like fireworks’
Dwayne Skidmore said he didn’t think people won big prizes from lottery games.
But when his daughter won $250,000 from a scratch ticket, the 45-year-old man from Jerome started playing the lottery with the goal of winning a bigger prize, the Idaho Lottery said in a March 15 Facebook post.
And Skidmore did win more than his daughter. He won $300,000 from a scratch ticket, the lottery said.
The win came from a $30 Motherload scratch ticket that Skidmore decided to buy at at a convenience store.
Initially, he was only expecting a $50 win, but when he had the barcode scanned, the computer lit up and the clerk said he likely won $1,000, the lottery said.
“It’s like fireworks started coming out of the register! I almost had a heart attack,” he told the Idaho Lottery.
But he hadn’t played the game yet and didn’t know how much he won, so he went to an Arctic Circle to get a bite to eat and finally scratch the ticket.
There he realized he won $300,000. And the number that got him the big prize, 45, was the same number as his age.
Skidmore told the lottery he had recently been homeless, but things started to turn around in his life, including having a place to stay and getting a car.
“First we have a new place to call home, then a car, now this? As thankful as I am, I can’t sit here and spend all this money when so many people need help,” he told the agency. “A lot of my prize is going towards my friends and family, to help them as much as I can.”
