A lucky fella won on the lottery after his roommate bought him a ‘cheap’ ticket as a Christmas stocking joke.
Grant Johnson’s long-time pal and flatmate Andrea Cahill bought him the winning $3 (£2.30) Peppermint Payout Multiplier scratchcard for a laugh.
The prank landed Johnson – who lives in Thurmont, Maryland, US – a cool $30,000 (£23,762).
Andrea said: “I bought him the $3 ticket as a joke because he likes the $30 ones and the $20s.
“I like the $2 and $3 ones.
“So I picked his tickets first and then he picked mine and when I picked his tickets, I was like ‘You know what, you’re always picking on me about the $3 tickets,’ so I bought him two.”
She said they were both “really shocked” when they scanned the ticket on an app and it came up ‘Congratulations, you’re a $30,000 winner’.
When the flatmates learned of 36-year-old Grant’s win, they said they were so shocked they ended up staying up all night.
He said: “Before we purchased the tickets for each other at the machine, I had her and myself exchange our money.
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“So we would spend each other’s money on each other’s tickets.
“I was kind of being silly about it, but I think that’s something that’s gonna stick now.
“It was a nice relief, a nice Christmas gift.”
Grant said it was the most cash he’d ever won on a scratchcard.
He plans to use the money to pay off a car he shares with Cahill along with some bills and loans.
The lucky winner added: “The rest of the money, I’ll break it up and put it away for whatever else we may need it for.
“Andrea’s my roommate so we help each other out a lot.
“I will also put some of the money away for travel.
“I’d like to go to Scotland and Ireland.”
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