After ‘dirty Santa’ gift stolen, Ky. woman claims another — a $175K scratch-off win

A Louisville woman won big when she scratched off the top, $175,000 prize on a Kentucky Lottery ticket during a game of “dirty Santa” at her workplace’s holiday party.

Lori Janes works as a treatment coordinator and office manager at a dental center in Louisville. Her office was playing “dirty Santa,” also known as a white elephant gift exchange, when another coworker snatched away the $25 TJ Maxx gift card Janes had claimed.

At first, she was sad to miss out on the gift card, but things soon turned in her favor. Since her gift card was stolen by another player, Janes had to choose another gift. That’s when she took $25 in scratch-off tickets from someone else.

Since the tickets were stolen, according to the rules of the game, they couldn’t be taken by anyone else.

“Once it got to me, it was done and mine to keep. That’s when everyone was telling me to scratch them off,” Janes said, according to a Kentucky Lottery news release sent Wednesday.

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She scratched off a $50 win on the first lottery ticket. Then she scratched off a $10 Hit The Jackpot ticket and uncovered a win on all 15 spots of her ticket.

She’d just won the game’s top prize of $175,000.

“Everyone was going insane. People were getting their calculators out and double checking. A couple of people even scanned the ticket on the lottery’s app, just to make sure,” Janes said.

“I couldn’t believe it. It was a $25 gift exchange, and I won $175,000!” she added.

After taxes, Janes took home $124,250. She plans to use the money to pay off her daughter’s student loans and the family’s automobile loans.

The Sunrise Market in Fisherville, where the winning scratch-off tickets were sold, will also receive a $1,750 bonus.

“This is so crazy. I’m truly blessed,” Janes said.

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