It was an extra shocking win for this punter, as they originally thought they’d won €20,000, only to learn their scratch card was worth ten times that amount.
The Dublin man who claimed the top prize of €200,000 bought his All-Cash Spectacular scratch card in Spar, Ballyfermot, Dublin 16.
Speaking to the National Lottery, he said: “At first, I thought I had won €20,000. I was delighted, and I passed the card to my son to double check it for me.
“Immediately he said, ‘Dad you didn’t win €20,000 – you’ve won €200,000!” he added.
A player from snowy Mayo also got lucky over the Christmas period when they claimed the Lotto jackpot worth €5,419,866 on December 28.
The punter bought the ticket in Carey’s Newsagents in Belmullet, and became the 11th lotto jackpot winner of 2024.
Speaking on behalf of the syndicate, one member said: “We were all together on the night of the draw having a Christmas get together, when we discovered we had won.
“As you can imagine, there was great excitement on the night, and it has still yet to sink in.
“The ticket has been kept in a magazine, in an envelope under a mattress – there was no way that ticket was going missing,” they added.
Another Meath couple also claimed a huge prize of €500,00 on a EuroMillions plus draw which they won from a Quick Pick ticket purchased in Supervalu in Ratoath last October.
“We saw the news online, that a ticket had been won in Supervalu in Ratoath. We thought to ourselves, we bought our ticket there, maybe it was us? We immediately checked the ticket online, and sure enough it was us,” they said.
“I went back to the Supervalu to buy champagne – I couldn’t help myself. The person serving me said, ‘Did you hear we sold the winning EuroMillions ticket?’ I had to smile but didn’t tell them it was me.
“This is truly a life-changing sum of money for us, and we could not be more thrilled. This means we can clear off our mortgage and finally spend our salaries on us,” they added.
Meanwhile, last night’s EuroMillions Jackpot has rolled on to an estimated €40m.
