A Junction City resident received a surprise of a lifetime when checking his Hot Lotto ticket Saturday night.  The lucky winner, who wished to remain anonymous, matched all numbers in the January 30 Hot Lotto drawing to win a jackpot prize worth $1,550,000!

“Saturday night, I scanned my ticket on the store’s lottery checker and the message read, ‘Sign back of ticket. Claim at Lottery,'” said the winner.  “I’ve never seen a message like that, so while I was pumping gas I looked up the winning Hot Lotto numbers on my phone.  I took a screen shot of the winning numbers and sent a photo of my ticket to a friend because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing was real.”

The winning numbers in the January Hot Lotto drawing were 15-28-36-37-39 Hot Ball 15.  The lucky winner matched all Hot Lotto numbers on a $2 Quick Pick Sizzler ticket.

“Winning this much money is surreal,” the winner said.  “Now I can focus on school and not worry about working.  I haven’t told my parents yet and I can’t wait to surprise them.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee Gas 1398, located at 206 Leavenworth St. in Manhattan.  For selling the jackpot-winning ticket the store is eligible for a $2,500 selling bonus.