Tyler man wins $1 million Texas Lottery jackpot

Jun 22, 2007, 1:24 pm (4 comments)

Texas Lottery

A Tyler man is a little richer after winning $1 million in the Texas Lottery.

Ralph Hilts, a custodian at Lindale Independent School District, originally won $50 playing a scratch-off card, but instead of stopping he spent the money he won on a ticket for the $130 Million Spectacular - which he also won.

"I scratched the ticket with a quarter and I thought to myself I'd won something," he said. "I asked the clerk to run it through his terminal and the message came up that the cashing limit had been exceeded."

Hilts carried that printout, along with several forms of identification when he traveled to the lottery headquarters in Austin on Monday to redeem his ticket.

While redeeming his prize of $1 million, Hilts remained cool.

"I'm not going to get excited until I've got the prize in my hands," he said.

The Tyler man said he plans to spend his money by purchasing a Dodge pickup and paying off his bills. He also said he plans to continue playing the lottery.

Hilts purchased both winning tickets at the Scooters No. 1 Store on Troup Highway. The store is eligible to receive a bonus of $10,000 for having sold the ticket.

Lottery Post Staff

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irondoor827

This  was  another  happy-ending  story ,  where  a  labor/custodian  gets  rich  just  on  a  hunch ....must  have  been  a  real  hard  choice  to  win  $50.00  then  say  here  spend  it  on another  more  expensive  ticket  ...he  took  a  risk but  it  paid  off  big ....... obeying  his  hunch  ....must  have  been  his  lucky  day ;  wish  him  and  his  wife  the  best  ,...sounds  like  he  wont  be  needing  his  mop  anymore...Banana

JackpotWanna's avatarJackpotWanna

$50 is little too much but not if you win. LOL

WTG!  Heaven is on your side!!

 

Party 

chasingadream's avatarchasingadream

thaaaats faaaaaaaHurray!ntastic

justxploring's avatarjustxploring

"I'm not going to get excited until I've got the prize in my hands," he said.

 

Apparently he's read the news articles on LP about all the "winners" who didn't get their money because of a misprint.  LOL   I mean, there was a couple who even had their photo taken with the giant check and then were told "Oops. We found a tiny piece you didn't remove."

Actually, I think that until I had the money safely invested, I'd feel the same way.

Congrats! Dance

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