Western Kentucky man won $50,000 by losing

PHILPOT, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — A western Kentucky man has won $50,000 on a Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket.

Ethan Henton of Philpot stopped at QQ Food Mart on Highway 54 in Owensboro on July 12 and bought a $5 Corner Cash Crossword Scratch-off to lose.

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“When I scratched it off, I didn’t believe it,” Henton told lottery officials.  “I scanned it with my phone, and it showed it was a winner. I tell people, ‘I don’t play to win, I play to lose. If I win, that’s just a plus … but yeah, it happened.”

He said he picks up a $5 ticket every payday. Henton took the ticket home, scratched it off later that night, and revealed 10 complete words to win the game’s $50,000 top prize.

Since he won on a Friday, Henton was nervous about having to hold on to the ticket over the weekend but was excited to share the news with his family.

He called his parents around midnight, waking them up to tell them the news: “I just won the lottery!”

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“She said, ‘You said that once; you thought you did,’” Henton said. “No, I for real won this time. She didn’t believe me either!”

Then he called his grandparents: “They were ecstatic!”

The Daviess County man and his son walked away from the Kentucky Lottery headquarters in Louisville with a check for $36,000 after taxes.

“I was nervous the whole way here,” he told officials.

Henton told officials that he and his son already had a vacation to Florida planned for later this summer, but they will be adding some excursions to the trip now.

“This is pretty wild,” he said.

QQ Food Mart will receive $500 for selling the winning ticket.

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