A Dubbo man who purchased a $15 Crosswords Book on Christmas Eve spent nearly an entire month unaware that he'd won the top prize.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man and his fiance scratched the instant win ticket on Christmas eve, but a slight mistake nearly cost the couple $200,000 as they believed they'd only won $50.
READ ALSO:
"We weren't in a rush to cash it in because we thought it was just a small prize," the man said.
"So we went to the newsagency just the other day to claim our prize but when they scanned the ticket they told us they couldn't pay out the prize."
"That's when we realised we'd actually won $200,000!"
"We hadn't read the ticket correctly."
While the man and his fiance spent the last month entirely unaware of the ticket worth $200,000 sitting at home, they've wasted no time in figuring out how to spend their unlikely winnings.
"We're both going to buy new cars," he said.
"And we have a mortgage so we will be able to pay a big chunk off our mortgage."
"It was the best Christmas present and certainly one we will never forget!"
The winning ticket was purchased from Talbragar Street Newsagency, owned by Peter Snares, who said he 'couldn't be happier for the winner'.
"How wonderful to hear one of our customers is $200,000 richer," Mr Snares said.
"I'm so happy for him and it's great to know this has gone to a local here in Dubbo."
"Over the past 35 years we've sold 41 major prizes and we hope this winning streak continues in 2020!"