Ohio woman has double celebration by winning lottery on her birthday after thinking she only nabbed $10

A woman from Ohio had twice the reason to celebrate when she won the lottery on her birthday.

Sandra Armstead decided to treat herself scratch-off tickets for her birthday purchasing some $5 Double Cash Doubler scratch-offs at the S&K Mini Mart on 11th Street in Canton last week. To her surprise she very quickly realized one of her tickets was a winner - and was astounded to find out how much.

She told the Ohio lottery that she thought she had won $10 at first but then realized it was actually a far more considerable sum. She said: “I scratch them off and then I said, ‘ ooh, I got a winner’ but I didn’t scratch the amount. When I scratch the amount, I see a one.”

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She continued about how she couldn't believe her eyes: “I said, ‘$150,000!’ I got the magnifying glass. This says $150,000. I said, ‘I don’t believe it.” After mandatory state and federal tax deductions which come to a total of 28 percent, Sandra still gets to take home a very healthy $108,000 for her unexpected birthday present.

Sandra is hoping to use her winnings to get out of debt and tithe to her church. The win comes after lottery winner David Taylor of Ohio revealed the secrets behind his win and how others could share in his good luck by following a few tips.

Winning $5,004 in the Ohio Lottery’ s Lucky for Life drawing on August 24, David purchased his winning ticket at Riverside Beverage and Deli in Elyria. His winning numbers were selected through the auto-pick option and as he watched the numbers being drawn, David quickly realized that he had matched four out of the five main numbers. He also managed to match the bonus number , netting him the big $5,004 win - and went on to explain why smaller lottery games could be the way forward.

“I was shocked to see I hit the first four numbers and then I had the bonus one, and I’m like, ‘Wow, how much does this pay?” he said. He admitted he liked specifically to play the Lucky for Life game because it pays out smaller prizes per game than any other lottery drawing.

Lucky for life is a $2 draw game with the top prize being $1,000 a day for life for a total of $365,000 a year and the second place prize being $25,000 a year for life according to the Ohio Lottery. The lottery says the odds of winning the top prize are about 1 in 30 million.

These odds are exponentially better than the standard Mega Millions odds of about 1 in 300 million. As for those smaller wins David referenced, the odds of winning $200 in the Lucky for Life game are 1 in 8,433. The odds of winning the same amount in the Mega Millions drawing are 1 in 14,547. With those odds differences, one can see why Taylor favors the Lucky for Life game over the Mega Millions.