Cedar Rapids Man Was Skeptical About His $10,000 Lottery Win
Benjamin Rathje Claims Big Prize In 'Lucky 7 Bonus' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — A Cedar Rapids man decided to splurge a bit on payday and ended up winning a $10,000 lottery prize.
"It was Friday. It was payday and so I bought a $10 and a $20 dollar (ticket)," explained Benjamin "Ben" Rathje. "And I won $10 and $10,000. I actually didn't believe it so I scanned it real quick."
Rathje, 32, won the tenth prize of $10,000 available in the Iowa Lottery's "Lucky 7 Bonus" scratch game. He purchased his winning ticket at Hy-Vee, 4035 Mount Vernon Road SE in Cedar Rapids, and claimed his prize Friday at the lottery's regional office in Cedar Rapids.
He called his mom to share the fun news.
"I called my mom first. She said, 'Someday you're going to win big,' just because I always buy them," he said. "She called back later just to scream in the phone, 'Congrats!'"
Rathje and his fiancée, Audrey Hemesath, have some big plans for his winnings.
"It's definitely a good down payment," he said. "We get married in three weeks."
Rathje, who works in IT at Collins Aerospace, said he's also been looking at getting a new truck.
Lucky 7 Bonus is a $20 scratch game that features 20 top prizes of $250,000, 76 prizes of $10,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.88. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.
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