Robert Stewart, 41, of Aurelia, Iowa, likes games. Electronic games.

And now lottery games.

He is $455,000 richer now, thanks to his good luck playing a state lottery scratch game.

Stewart, who manages a Game Stop business in Storm Lake, Iowa, told a reporter for the Des Moines Register that he stopped by a Storm Lake convenience store after dropping his wife off at work this morning and bought the store’s last “Lifetime Riches” instant scratch game.

The $20 ticket yielded a big payout when he scratched a matching number with a top prize of $40,000 a year for 25 years – making him the Iowa Lottery’s seventh winner this year.

Stewart returned to the auto-parts store where his wife, Deb, works to inform her of their good fortune and managed to get his wife the rest of the day off while traveled to Iowa Lottery headquarters in Des Moines to collect their oversized check for $455,000 after taxes as a lump-sum award.

“The state tax was more than I make in a year,” said Stewart, who still was a bit overwhelmed with his new-found fortune at lottery headquarters. “I’m still trying to come to grips with it. It still doesn’t seem real to me.”

The Stewart couple was joined by their son, Rory, 16, a Storm Lake High School student, in making the victory trip to Des Moines. Their daughter, Amanda, 18, couldn’t make the trip because she had a previous commitment since joining the Marines.

Stewart said he said he plans to pay off his mortgage and student loans, upgrade the family vehicle and put the rest in the bank while he consults a financial adviser to determine what to do with the rest of his winnings.

Good thinking.

Good luck.

Leave a Reply