Oct. 1 (UPI) — A Kansas man who celebrated his birthday by buying a pair of scratch-off lottery tickets ended up receiving a $10,000 gift from himself.
Joe Krogman of Marysville told Kansas Lottery officials he decided to buy a Flip Flop Cash scratch-off ticket when he visited the CJ Express 1 store in Marysville on the day before his birthday.
“At first she only gave me one to start with, but I asked her for another. It’s a good thing I did because it was the second ticket that had won $10,000,” Krogman recalled. “I scratched it and was still a little sleepy-eyed, so I asked a buddy and the clerk if I was seeing it correctly, and they told me I was.”
Krogman said he quickly started spreading the word of his good luck.
“I even took a picture of the ticket and sent it to my sister. I told her, ‘Happy birthday to me!'” he said.
He said the news spread through town so fast that his wife received word of his win before he arrived home an hour later.
Krogman ended up celebrating his birthday with a trip to lottery headquarters to collect his $10,000 prize.
The winner said his money will be put in savings for the time being, but could end up funding a trip for he and his wife to visit their daughter in Las Vegas in the spring.