One day, when you win big in the lottery, you'll understand about sleepless nights waiting to claim your prize. Russ Twelmeyer knows all about that. The night before claiming his lottery prize in May of 2009, Russ couldn't sleep. In fact, he even had to get up to make sure his ticket was still there. That's what winning a lot of money does to you.
Russ Twelmeyer won the $250,000 jackpot. playing Iowa Lottery's Lucky Diamonds instant scratch lotto game. Lucky Diamonds is a $10 game and $250,000 is the grand prize. The odds of winning that top prize is 1-in-119,700. There are also other prizes, ranging from $10 to $5,000. The odds of winning any prize in the Lucky Diamonds scratch game are 1-in-3.18.
At the time of his win, Russ Twelmeyer was retired and living in Des Moines, Iowa. He was actually born in Hawaii and said that he planned to use the money to take more trips back home. Other than that, Russ is married with two kids and five grand-kids and plans to buy them presents in the future. He even gave the conveniance store clerk a $100 tip for selling him the winning ticket.
Russ Twelmeyer said that he was thankful for such a wonderful windfall given the economic recession affecting North America.
Here's a video of Russ Twelmeyer at his press conference:
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Russ Twelmeyer Wins Jackpot In Iowa Lottery's Lucky Diamonds Scratch Game
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Tino Sundin
Posted by: Tino Sundin
Updated at: Saturday, July 04, 2009
