Muscatine County Woman Scratches Off $30,000 Lottery Prize
Alexandra Perez-Gonzalez Claims Big Prize In 'Premiere' Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — A Muscatine County woman whose family is about to grow said her $30,000 lottery win came at a great time.
"We have a baby on the way," Alexandra Perez-Gonzalez told officials on Tuesday as she claimed her prize at the lottery's Cedar Rapids regional office. "We have an apartment right now and we want something of our own, a house, maybe."
Perez-Gonzalez, 24, of West Liberty, won the 20th prize of $30,000 in the Iowa Lottery's "Premiere" scratch game. She and her husband, Jonathan, had won a smaller prize on an earlier ticket purchase at Casey's, 402 W. 15th St. in West Liberty, and decided to use those winnings to buy another ticket in the game
"That first one, we scratched it and then we got $50," she said. "Then he was like, 'Buy another one! Maybe we'll get lucky and win $200, or $100.'"
Perez-Gonzalez quickly uncovered a matching number on the next ticket.
"I started scratching the prize. I thought it was just $30, and then I saw 30 and two zeroes," she recalled. "Then I was like, 'Wait! Jonathan, hold on! There's another zero here!'"
They took the ticket back into the store and confirmed the win by checking it on the lottery terminal.
"It was just a very, very exciting experience," she said. "It came when we needed it most and least expected it. We're very grateful."
Premiere is a $30 scratch game that features 17 top prizes of $300,000, 84 prizes of $30,000 and overall odds of 1 in 2.39. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.
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