Woman nearly gifts ex-father-in-law winning $75,000 scratch off ticket

An Arkansas woman held on to a scratch-off lottery ticket worth $75,000 that she was going to give to her ex-husband's father. Her decision to keep the ticket led her to claim big winnings Thursday.

Paula Penn, a resident of Texarkana, Arkansas, almost gifted the winning ticket to her ex-father-in-law for his birthday, but kept it because she liked the design.

Penn purchased several scratch-off tickets for him at the E-Z Mart on Jefferson Avenue in Texarkana on Sept. 7.

According to the Lottery, she couldn't fit them all in his birthday card, so she kept the "$75,000 Jewels" scratch-off ticket.

"That ticket really stood out to me because of the diamonds on it," Penn told the Arkansas Lottery. "I love diamond mining in my spare time."

Penn pulled out the scratch off ticket at work where she realized she'd won the $75,000.

"I asked my boss and co-workers to confirm the win, and the owner gave me permission to leave for the day to come to Little Rock to redeem my prize," Penn shared. "My ex-father-in-law is definitely going to get a kick out of this story."

She intends to use her winnings to pay off debt and take a vacation later in the year. Additionally, she plans to quit her second job as an Uber driver.

More:Women credits co-worker for helping win $197,296 from Michigan Lottery Club Keno game

What is $75,000 Jewels?

$75,000 Jewels is a $3 Arkansas Scholarship Lottery scratch-off game where players can win a top prize of $75,000. 

What are the odds of winning $75,000 Jewels?

The overall odds of winning any prize in the scratch-off game are 1 in 3.66. As of Sept. 11, there is $2,502,397 remaining for the year in prize money, ranging from $3 to $75,000.

There are only two top prizes left after Penn won the first but there are still 20 tickets available for a chance to win $1,000.

Biggest instant game jackpot winner in US

In 2022, A Michigan resident won the largest prize ever from a scratch-off ticket, taking home $6 million from Michigan Lottery's $300,000,000 Diamond Riches game.

A Virginia man won the largest online instant game when he won $1,817,588 playing "Jackpot Spectacular."