Kentucky Lottery Winner Gives Out $2K Gift Cards to Strangers

Posted on: July 20, 2022, 02:01h. 

Last updated on: July 21, 2022, 12:49h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Lucky shoppers in a Louisville, Ky. retail store recently discovered that generosity still exists. A lottery winner decided to pass out $2,000 gift cards to each of them even though they never previously met.

Crystal Dunn holds a facsimile check of her lottery winnings from the Kentucky Lottery
Crystal Dunn holds a facsimile check of her lottery winnings from the Kentucky Lottery, pictured above. She used some of the money to hand out gift cards to strangers. Each was $2,000. (Image: Kentucky Lottery)

Crystal Dunn of Louisville won over $146,000 in the Kentucky lottery on July 7. She could not believe it at first. The next day she went to claim her prize. She deposited the check in her bank.

Next, she took some money to buy the gift cards at Meijer, a supercenter retail chain. Dunn then strolled around the Preston Highway store. She just handed out the cards to customers who happened to be shopping there.

A few were taken back, thinking I was wanting something in return,” Dunn recalled in a statement released by the Kentucky Lottery. “I got an unexpected gift and I believe in paying it forward and I wanted to pass it along.”

In total, she won $146,351.74. Dunn wagered $20.

She plans to spend some of the other money on a car and paying off some bills.

Dunn won the jackpot in the Bank Buster Jackpot Instant Play game. It is played online. It has a progressive jackpot, which starts at $100,000 and increases with each purchase of a participating progressive jackpot Instant Play game.

“It’s a pretty exciting feeling. I never thought I would win something like this, but this goes to show it can happen,” Dunn said.

Other Recent Winner

On Tuesday, Rachael Dabney of Somerset, Ky., won $210,000 after buying a Kentucky Lottery scratch-off ticket at her favorite lottery retailer. It was at Stanford, Ky.’s Stanford Food Mart & Donut Shop.

She and her husband may buy a new truck with some winnings. They also plan to buy used cars for their children.

“I started scratching off the ticket, and I saw I matched the ten symbol. I went to scratch the prize and saw a two, a one, and a zero.  I thought it was two hundred and ten dollars — but then I saw the comma. I had to look at it five times,” she revealed in a statement.

Pilot Program for Lottery Sales

In March 2021, the Kentucky Lottery announced new convenience for lottery ticket purchases.

Grocery shoppers in Kentucky can grab a soda, pick up their favorite tabloid, and even purchase a lottery ticket, all while in the checkout lane.

Scientific Games launched the new SCiQ InLane technology, a product that integrates lottery sales into the checkout process at grocery stores. The pilot program debuted at Kroger markets in the Lexington area.

The casino gaming and lottery tech manufacturer says Kroger grocery shoppers can buy a lottery scratch game in the same transaction as milk and eggs. Scientific Games explains that the program is designed to maximize lottery revenues and proceeds for its benefits programs.

SCiQ InLane includes a small screen showing the Kentucky Lottery instant games available for purchase from the cashier. The technology system provides real-time sales and available inventory data to the lottery and retailer.

Founded in 1999, the Kentucky Lottery supports college scholarships and educational grant programs. To date, hundreds of millions of dollars were raised for education and scholarships.