William Smothers works in operations at Purdue University and enjoys doing crossword puzzles in his free time. So, whenever he purchases Hoosier Lottery Scratch-offs, he typically buys the crossword puzzle games.

When William’s freezer suddenly stopped working one afternoon, he went to the nearby Phillips 66 gas station to buy some ice. While he was there, he saw the $3 Wild Cherry Crossword Tripler and decided to purchase one. As the Delphi resident sat in his truck scratching the ticket, he saw he had several completed words.

“I looked at it again and saw I had all 10 words,” William said. “I thought, ‘Uh oh, I just won $50,000!’”

William’s wife was out of town at a conference, so he called her to share his good news. After their call, he texted her a photo of the winning ticket, but when his wife and one of her colleagues examined the photo, they weren’t sure it was a winner.

Just to make sure, William scanned his ticket using the Hoosier Lottery’s app. “I scanned it five times just to be sure,” he laughed.

William’s first purchase with his prize money will be a new freezer (of course!). He also plans to pay a couple of bills and take a vacation.

$3 Wild Cherry Crossword Tripler Estimated Overall Odds: 1 in 3.88