‘I think I hit the max’: Lawrenceburg couple to use lotto winnings for new home

RUSSELL SPRINGS, Ky. (WXIX) - A Lawrenceburg man is putting his scratch-off ticket winnings toward a down payment on a house.

Leslie Berryman won the $75,000 top prize of the Grillin’ & Chillin’ Scratch-off when he stopped at a Kentucky gas station in early June, the Kentucky Lottery said.

“I scratched it off by just going across without hitting the prizes and got all 15 steaks. I told her (fiancé, Krystal Luster) and she said, ‘Don’t get excited, it might just be dollars,’” Berryman told lottery officials. “I hit the first and it said $2,500. I was like, oh my god, it’s $5,000,” Berryman said. “All across the first row were $2,500′s and I thought, ‘I think I hit the max.’”

The steak symbol doubles each prize.

Berryman told officials he was so nervous that he flipped the ticket over and scratched off the other tickets before going back to discover he had won the game’s $75,000 top prize.

“It took a minute for it to even sit in,” Krystal Luster said. “We’re talking about what we could actually do with the money.”

Luster said, “We’ve struggled all of our lives and we’re finally at a place where we don’t need the money, but it will make a big difference in our lives.”

The couple drove to lottery headquarters the next day, where Berryman walked away with a check for $53,625 after taxes.

The couple said they would use the winnings towards a down payment on a house.

Five Star will receive $750 for selling the winning ticket.

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