7/09/2009 - 9:20 AM

Change of Heart Wins New Orleans Man $100,000 Hot Spot® Summer Top Prize

After rethinking his purchase, Wayne Cousin went ahead and purchased a $5 Hot Spot® Summer scratch-off ticket along with the $3 scratch-off he had originally wanted and won a $100,000 top prize.

"I told the clerk I wanted a ticket from the #5 spot in the dispenser, which was a $3 ticket'" recalled the New Orleans resident who had just celebrated his 57th birthday on June 28. "She thought I had asked for a $5 ticket. I explained what I wanted. When she gave the $3 ticket to me, I said 'On second thought, I'll get the $5 ticket, too. It might be the lucky one!'"

Once he was back in the car, he scratched them both. That was when he saw he had won $100,000 on the Hot Spot® Summer ticket.

"I saw that I had matched one of the winning numbers, so I scratched from right to left to reveal the prize," explained Cousin. "The zeros just kept coming!"

He purchased his top-prize winning scratch-off from Just-In Discount Store on Jefferson Highway in Jefferson.

Hot Spot® Summer is a $5 scratch-off that offers the chance to win up to 15 times on each ticket. There is one remaining top prize as of June 30.

Persons must be at least 21 years of age to purchase a Lottery ticket.  Anyone who has a gambling problem or friends and family of anyone with a gambling problem are encouraged to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867. For security purposes, the Lottery strongly encourages players to sign the back of their ticket immediately after purchasing.