A dream comes true for Delaware’s Michael Pendexter and his wife Carrie. He won a $100,000 top prize playing the $100,000 Crossword game.
Lucky player’s gut feeling leads to top prize win in $100,000 Crossword game
“My hands were shaking and my heart was racing,” is how a Delaware man described his reaction to scratching off a $100,000 top-prize winning instant ticket. When he claimed his prize this week, Michael Pendexter was ecstatic, telling Lottery officials about a winning dream he had many years ago and how it finally came true.
“I was holding the big check and everything,” he said, smiling, “better late than never.”
Lottery luck came to call last week, changing the life of the Kent County resident. He was on a work break as a meter reader when a feeling came over him that he should play a couple of scratch-offs. Michael stopped in the Country Farm store in Salisbury and purchased two scratch-offs: Win $50, $100 or $200 and the 8th edition of $100,000 Crossword. He played them in his truck.
The first instant ticket was not a winner and he put it aside, then began on the crossword game. That’s when he revealed something incredible.
“I was scratching off the letters and I lost track of how many words I had,” said Michael. “When I looked over it again, I had all 10 words.” Ten words equals a $100,000 win in the game.
The shocked player, who is familiar with the $100,000 Crossword scratch-off, said he jumped out of the truck and ran in the store to scan his $10 instant ticket. The ticket scanner’s message said, “Congratulations” and the cashier confirmed his good fortune and congratulated him, too. Michael then texted the good news to his wife Carrie.
“It read, ‘I won the biggest amount of my life,’” recalled Carrie, who accompanied her husband to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim the prize. “How do you text that kind of news! I immediately called him.”
Although excited about his $100,000 win, Michael did some more work before heading home to secure his winning scratch-off. Michael and Carrie, parents of four adult children, have big plans for the prize. They hope to move into a new home and get Carrie a new car.
Also living the dream is the Lottery retailer that sold the lucky scratch-off. Country Farm, located at 104 Gordy Road in Salisbury, will receive a $1,000 Lottery bonus for selling a $100,000 top-prize winning scratch-off.
The 8th Edition of the $100,000 Crossword game went on sale in June with 10 $100,000 top prizes. Michael claimed the first one, so nine remain. In addition, there are 11 unclaimed $10,000 prizes and hundreds of thousands of others ranging from $10 to $1,000.
