Cynthiana man leaves store with $50,000 scratch-off win

CYNTHIANA, Ky. – One Kentucky man is celebrating a $50,000 scratch-off win.

The Kentucky Lottery says Joshua Hubbard of Cynthiana made a routine scratch-off purchase that paid off.

Hubbard bought the ticket at a local convenience store, Moonlight Food Mart, and was shocked when he discovered his big win, lottery officials say.

“I normally buy the $5,000,000 Fortune ticket, and I had won $500 on a couple of different tickets,” Hubbard said. “I was fixing to walk out, and I was like, I’m going to use a couple of my wins from other tickets and buy a $50 Millionaire Club ticket.”

The excitement began when Hubbard scratched the ticket off in the store.

“I scratched the first bonus and hit $1,000, then the second, third, and fourth bonuses all hit too,” he said. “When I scratched the winning numbers, they were all big amounts. I thought, this is going to be big.”

Hubbard eventually revealed wins on all 39 play areas on the ticket, winning the game’s $50,000 second-tier prize.

“I was shaking, at first,” he said. “I went up and scanned the ticket and blocked the screen with my body so no one could see and saw where it was an actual winner.”

“I got out of there!”

Hubbard went home and woke his wife up to tell her the exciting news.

“I was still asleep, and he walked in and said, “You’re never going to believe what I won,” and he showed me the ticket. I started counting the prizes and said, just tell me. He said, “$50,000” and I was like, Nuh uh,” his wife recounted.

“He’s always lucky,” she added.

Hubbard received $36,000 after taxes. He told officials he plans to pay off debt and put the rest into savings. “I’ll use it wisely,” he said.

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