Sticking to his habits, days passed after the Dec. 15 Lucky for Life drawing as Richey unknowingly walked around with the winning ticket in his wallet, the Iowa Lottery said in a Jan. 6 news release.

A lottery player couldn’t help but be stunned over his huge lottery win in Iowa — especially after initially thinking he won a much smaller prize. Adam Simons, of Ackley, now has big plans for his winnings after uncovering a jackpot prize on New Year’s Day, he told Iowa Lottery officials.

However, the extra ticket was part of the Let it Snow promotion that “awarded players at random a free FAST PLAY ticket in December after Pick 3/4/5 purchases,” lottery officials said. While her Pick 3 ticket wasn’t a winner, it was a different story when she checked her free $5 Merry Money Match ticket.

Randall Smith was sitting in his car when he won a $100,000 top prize from a Money Tree ticket, the Virginia Lottery said in a Jan. 6 news release. “I broke down, and I lost it!” Smith told lottery officials.

A North Carolina lottery player started the new year off a winner after claiming a big jackpot prize, lottery officials said. Gary Thomas won $496,217 when he matched all five numbers in the Dec. 1 drawing of the Carolina Cash 5 game, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a Jan. 3 news release.

A lucky player won over $1 million in a Virginia game, lottery officials said. /iStockphoto A lucky player won a life-changing jackpot prize from a Virginia game, and he rushed to tell his wife, lottery officials said.