C-Falls man claims $12,000 scratch prize

A Columbia Falls man who said he left his Montana Lottery scratch tickets in his car for a couple of days before he got a chance to scratch them was surprised to find he was a $12,000 winner.

Eric Peterson said when his wife Mindy initially scratched the ticket, she thought they only had a $100 win. Upon closer inspection, Eric realized his win was much bigger.

Peterson and his family traveled to the Montana Lottery headquarters in Helena on Jan. 20  to claim his winnings. Although still in shock, he passed on some advice to other players: “Winning tickets are out there, and you can’t win if you don’t play.”

He purchased his winning “Magic Money Bingo” ticket at Junction Gas in Columbia Heights. He plans to save most of his winnings but also plans on taking a nice vacation over the summer.

The Montana Lottery was created by referendum in 1986. Since then, it has paid out more than $483 million in prizes and returned about $217 million to the state of Montana.