Bowling Green couple wins $234,176 on instant play game
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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Since being diagnosed with cancer, life as Frank Long knew it had changed.
Instead of going to work every day, he was going to doctor’s appointments and receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
To fill the time, he began playing Kentucky Lottery games online. That decision paid off in a big way as he won over $234,000 on an instant play game.
“I was bored, and it gave me something to do. If it weren’t for messing around on the computer, I would have gone stir crazy,” he said.
Last Tuesday, the Kentucky Lottery says Long sat down to play the Bank Buster Jackpot Instant Play game. This is a progressive jackpot game that starts with a $100,000 jackpot and increases with each purchase of a participating instant play game.
After winning $700 twice on the same game, his wife convinced him to wager $20. As he watched the game play out on the computer screen, a vault symbol appeared. As soon as he clicked on the symbol, he saw the message he was a winner and the amount of $234,176.98 displayed on the screen.
“I kept clicking on it [winner message], thinking it isn’t real. I didn’t believe it until I got the confirmation email from the Kentucky Lottery,” said Long.
“The funny thing is, I don’t usually spend that much, but my wife said, ‘Let’s goof off and go for it,’” he told lottery officials.
Long and his wife Sonya drove to lottery headquarters the next day, where he received a check for $166,265, after taxes, according to Kentucky Lottery.
Long’s wife told officials her husband had purchased a new truck right before getting his cancer diagnosis. He had been under a lot of stress with the truck payments and the unanticipated medical bills.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time. It took a lot off of me and I’m still trying to process,” he said as he held the check in his hand. “This is sure shocking.”
While Long recently completed his last chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he is now letting his body heal while he awaits his next scan. The couple are looking forward to taking a cruise once he’s better.
