Washington man forgets his winning lottery ticket

A Washington man who forgot to buy a lottery ticket at his usual store forgot about the ticket again after buying it at a different place — but ended up winning $50,000.

The player, identified as Spanaway resident Pete A., told Washington’s Lottery officials he was on his way out of town when he realized he had forgotten to stop for his weekly lottery tickets at the Fred Meyer store, so he instead visited Barney & Bernie’s Grocery Deli to pick up a variety of tickets.

Pete said he ended up forgetting about the tickets until a week later, when he scratched them off.

He said one of tickets, a holiday-themed Minty Money scratch-off, initially didn’t appear to be a winner, but he scanned it with his phone to double-check and discovered it was a $50,000 winner.

Pete said he had to send a photo of the ticket to his girlfriend before she would believe he had stuck it big.

The winner said his prize money will give him some extra spending cash during his upcoming trip to Europe and the rest will be invested.