SC man didn’t believe he won lottery game’s grand prize until the check was in his hands

Even as he made his way to Columbia to cash in a winning lottery ticket, a Lowcountry man didn’t completely believe he had won the game’s $200,000 grand prize, South Carolina Education Lottery officials said Wednesday in a news release.

It wasn’t until the staff at the lottery claims center assured him that he had won a six-figure jackpot and issued him a check that he became convinced, according to the release.

“It was unbelievable,” the man said in the release.

That moment of reality setting in almost didn’t happen, because the man nearly threw away the scratch-off lottery game, officials said.

Initially, the man didn’t think he won anything on the $5 Emerald Green ticket he bought at the Speedway gas station/convenience store on Ladson Road in Ladson, according to the release. Several days later, he picked the ticket up to throw it out when a family member gave it second look, officials said.

“Oh, wow,” was his response to discovering he was in for a big payday.

The man said he plans to invest the newfound windfall, but didn’t provide any specifics.

The winner will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous .

The odds of winning the $200,000 top prize in the Emerald Green game were 1-in-960,000, according to the release. This was the last of the game’s three top prize-winning tickets that had been unclaimed, officials said.

The Speedway received a commission of $2,000 for selling the claimed ticket, according to the release.