Grinnell Man Makes Quick Purchase After Big Lottery Win
Robert Hurst Claims Jackpot Prize of More Than $67,000
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CLIVE, Iowa — A Grinnell man who won a lottery prize of more than $67,000 said his first purchase after the big win was a sensible one.
"I stopped and bought a fire safe to put the ticket in for the weekend," Robert Hurst said on Monday as he claimed his jackpot prize of $67,043.45 at lottery headquarters in Clive.
Hurst, 35, won the big prize in the Iowa Lottery's "Jumbo Bucks Progressive" InstaPlay game. The $5 game that features a jackpot that starts at $5,000 and increases with every ticket sold statewide until it is won.
Hurst, an operations manager for a construction company, said he noticed the game's big jackpot when he stopped at Casey's, 170 36th Ave. SW in Altoona.
"I usually play the progressive InstaPlays, and I saw the Jumbo Bucks (jackpot) was getting up there, so I bought four of them," he said.
The game's current jackpot is printed on each ticket, and he noticed on one of his tickets that it had reset.
"I'm thinking, 'Man, someone just won it,'" Hurst said. "I looked at my next ticket, it was the current jackpot and the third line down, I see I matched the numbers for the progressive jackpot."
He took the ticket back in to the store, where an employee verified the big win by scanning the ticket on the lottery terminal.
Hurst said his jackpot win left him feeling pretty lucky.
"I had poker night with the guys Friday night," he said with a laugh. "I lost that one, but I think I won the day."
He and his wife, Morgan, have a plan for the winnings.
"We've done some home renovations," he said. "It'll take care of those, and then we'll put the rest in savings and enjoy life."
InstaPlay games combine features from instant-scratch and lotto games to give players an option with no numbers to pick, playslips to fill out or wait for a drawing. InstaPlay tickets are known as "scratchless" because they have no security coating that needs to be removed to determine the prize won. The tickets are printed on demand from the lottery terminal.
InstaPlay games range in price from $1 to $30. For more information, visit www.ialottery.com.
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