Man wins top Iowa lottery prize while going to party — then starts one of his own
While in the passenger seat on the way to his friend’s birthday party with his wife, an Iowa man scratched off a lottery ticket, and then started a celebration of his own.
“I was scratching away and all of a sudden I went, ‘Oh… my!’” David Smutz told the Iowa Lottery.
The 71-year-old from Cedar Rapids had just scratched off a $500,000 top prize, lottery officials said in a Dec. 9 news release.
At first, his wife didn’t believe him.
“She looked and goes, ‘That’s not real!’ And I said, ‘No, it’s real!’” he told officials.
When the couple got to the party, Smutz shared the good news. Just like his wife, however, none of the attendees believed him.
He scanned his ticket on the Iowa Lottery app to prove them all wrong, he told lottery officials.
Then, Smutz said a celebration in addition to the birthday commenced.
“I hit $500,000 and they were all my buddies all of a sudden,” the winner told officials.
Smutz plans to spend his winnings on a new car and travel with his wife.
He added that the big win won’t convince him to retire. He told officials that he enjoys his job as a manager of a trucking company and plans to keep working.
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Man wins top Iowa lottery prize while going to party — then starts one of his own."
