A Charles City man has won a $10,000 lottery prize on a game that was his second choice after his initial choice was sold out.
Iowa Lottery officials say 57-year-old Virgil Houdek won the 64th prize of $10,000 in the Iowa Lottery’s “$100,000 Mega Crossword” scratch game. He purchased his winning ticket at Love’s Travel Stop in Floyd, and claimed his prize this week at the lottery office in Mason City.
Houdek explained, “I asked for the Money Madness. They didn’t have it. So I took the crossword next to it. I scanned the barcode and scanned it on the machine. I was stunned for a second. Then I said, ‘Oh my gosh. I just won $10,000!'”
Houdek adds, “I took a picture of the screen saying ‘Congratulations! You win! (how much you won).’ I took a picture and sent it to people.â€
His brother didn’t believe him, replying with a message ‘Fake news.'”
Houdek, who works at GMT Corporation in Waverly, says he’ll use the money to pay off his motorcycle.
The $100,000 Mega Crossword game is a $10 scratch game that features 38 top prizes of $100,000 and 76 prizes of $10,000.Â
Also last week, the Iowa Lottery announced that 59-year-old Jim Bergman of Frederika and 79-year-old Frank Peters of New Hampton will split a “JACKPOT PARTY®†Progressive InstaPlay game prize of $194,000 after purchasing their winning ticket at the Frederika Tap in Frederika.
