(AUSTIN) – Tanya Lynn Walraven of Hooks was with her two sons last Saturday when she scratched a Texas Lottery® instant ticket, Bonus Cashword, and found a prize of $5,000. Or so she thought.
“We couldn’t breathe,” an excited Walraven recounted. “I told my sons and my mom that I’d won $5,000 right there.”
Walraven soon went down to the Texas Lottery Claim Center in Tyler, the closest of the Lottery’s 15 regional claim centers to her hometown near Texas’ borders with Oklahoma and Arkansas.
While at the claim center, Lottery staff informed her that she was mistaken about the amount of her prize.
“They told me I had won $35,000, not $5,000,” an elated Walraven said. “The staff person told me I’d forgotten to scratch off a letter that completed the 10 words that would win me the $35,000.”
The prize will be used as a down payment on a new home, Walraven said.
“We’ve had other winners in the past tell us that they thought they’d won a particular amount, only to discover that their prize, once they went to a claim center, was considerably more than originally believed,” said Texas Lottery Commission Deputy Executive Director Gary Grief. “This is one of those happy surprises we’re always glad to provide.”
Walraven bought the ticket at the Pasco Oil Company #7, 580 Lone Star Drive, in Hooks.
Friday’s Mega Millions® jackpot is worth an estimated $155 million. Saturday’s Lotto Texas® jackpot is worth an estimated $8 million.
