Charles City man wins $10,000 in lottery scratch ticket

To The Press

A Charles City man won a $10,000 lottery prize on a game that was his second choice after his initial choice was sold out.

“I asked for the Money Madness. They didn’t have it. So I took the crossword next to it,” explained Virgil Houdek. “I scanned the bar code and scanned it on the machine. I was like stunned for a second. Then I said, ‘Oh my gosh. I just won $10,000!'”

Houdek, 57, won the 64th prize of $10,000 in the Iowa Lottery’s “$100,000 Mega Crossword” scratch game. He purchased his winning ticket at Love’s Travel Stop, 100 Monroe St. in Floyd, and claimed his prize Monday at the lottery’s Mason City regional office.

“I took a picture of the screen where it says, ‘Congratulations! You win! (how much you won)’ Took a picture of that and sent it to people,” he said. “My brother sent me a thing that says, ‘Fake news.'”

As for plans for his winnings, Houdek knew exactly what he was doing.

“Pay off my motorcycle,” he said.

As for his luck?

Houdek, who works at GMT Corp. in Waverly, said, “Just hit the right ticket at the right time.”

The $100,000 Mega Crossword game is a $10 scratch game that features overall odds of 1 in 3.30, 38 top prizes of $100,000 and 76 prizes of $10,000. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit www.ialottery.com.