May 10, 2023
Denver winner has a new home in her future
“I’m not playing.” Crystal G. in Denver won $1,000,000 on her Monopoly 200X Scratch ticket and has already put an offer in on a house!
A software engineer, Crystal, 54, and her family always said that if they ever had the money, they’d buy a house so they could all live together again. “We are getting the band back together!” Crystal said. Her niece even made a vision board and told Crystal she should do the same and put a big house on it. Her niece said they’d be living together again soon. Crystal didn’t quite do that but committed to saving all of her losing tickets to maybe win a second chance drawing. Her niece’s vision came true!
Pregnant during Operation Desert Storm, Crystal moved to Colorado Springs after being released from the military to be near her sister and fell in love with it. She moved to Denver when her daughter went to college there, but always hoped to move back to Colorado Springs. Crystal has a daughter who lives in Littleton and a son who lives with her. Her nephew and niece are her kids too. They moved to Ohio, but she’s Mom to both her niece and nephew, and Grandma to all their kids.
When Crystal scratched off the top prize on the ticket, she said she was “calm but shocked.” She didn’t get nervous or excited until she told her kids. When she called her son into the room to look at the ticket and sent a picture to her niece in Ohio, she said, "Are you pranking me? Is this real!?” Crystal told them, “No, I have this in my hand; I think this is real!”
Crystal usually plays Scratch games a couple of times a month but her previous biggest win was $200 playing Cash 5, so this certainly beats that! Crystal hopes her offer will be accepted to move closer to her sister in Colorado Springs! And, maybe a trip to Hawaii too.
Crystal had to share the news of her big win with the folks at Daytona Mart, her favorite place to play (and the Lottery’s top independent Scratch retailer). They couldn’t believe it. “You won a million dollars!” they said.
Congratulations, Crystal, and thank you for your service!
Crystal purchased her $20 Monopoly 200X Scratch ticket at Daytona Mart at 1411 Dayton St. in Aurora. We are planning a special celebration event at the winning location soon so check back for more details!
