California woman wins $1 million from a scratch-off ticket— without actually scratching it

Apart from sheer luck, some people also employ their knowledge of arithmetics and statistics to win a lottery, instead of simply leaving everything to chance. In addition to all that, some have even turned to technology instead of scratching cards to see the winning numbers, but it's not what you think. A woman won a whopping $1 million scratch-off lottery prize in California, without even scratching her ticket. Cornelia Treichel-Rocque had to check her ticket three times before she believed that she had won, but she did so using a device instead of scratching the ticket.

Revealing the Secret Number Without a Scratch

Treichel-Rocque told the California Lottery that she prefers to scan her tickets instead of scratching them. The million-dollar winner shared that she used a Check-A-Ticket scanning device, which was available at more than 20,000 California Lottery retail partner locations, according to NBC4. “It’s just quicker that way. And that’s how I found out I won!” Treichel-Rocque told lottery officials.

However, even the use of technology wasn't enough for her to believe that she had won the mega $1 million prize. She shared that she had to check the ticket twice by herself and then one final time the next day by going back to the store. The Cloud 9 game which Treichel-Rocque won, requires players to match their ticket numbers with the "Winning Numbers" to secure a prize. The top prize for the scratch-off lottery is the one that she walked home with.

Treichel-Roque admitted that she bought the ticket simply because it was looking good, and had no hopes of hitting the jackpot. “It’s funny, and this is also going to sound weird, but I bought that game because I liked the way it looked. I buy the ones that catch my eye, and I don’t scratch them,” she said as part of the press release.  

While Treichel-Roque wasn't sure about what she would do with the money, she said she’d definitely continue to play the Scratchers game in the same way, without scratching the tickets.

Another person to bag millions through scratch-off cards is a man from Rhode Island, who won a $4 million prize thanks to an unexpected turn of events following a casual breakfast. Steven Richard, a resident of Barrington, shared that he had got the ticket from his father during their routine morning meal. He told Massachusetts State Lottery officials that he refrained from immediately scratching the $10 ticket purchased from a Westport deli. He wanted to know about all the potential rewards before checking if he had won anything. 

After scratching the ticket, Richard found out that his ticket had won the grand prize of $4 million. "I called my dad screaming as soon as I got in my car," Richard told the lottery officials. At the end, he chose to take the one-time cash option instead of the annuity payments and walked home with a payout of $2.6 million after taxes. At the time, Richard said that would use a part of the winnings to travel around the world with his wife, USA Today reported.