Single mom wins $1 million on scratch-off at a Fayette County sports bar
A dinner at a local sports bar turned into a life-changing night for a Fayette County mom, thanks to her kids who convinced her to buy a scratch-off.
The Pennsylvania Lottery held a celebration for the lucky winner who won $1 million.
"I'm that one person that's like one in a million, nothing good ever happens to this person," said Brittnee Boot.
Now this single working mom has one million reasons to feel lucky.
The 31-year-old Boot recently brought her three children to Foster House II in Washington Township, Fayette County, to eat dinner after baseball practice. She said her boys were begging her to buy some scratch-off tickets.
"Believe it or not I actually bought tickets earlier in the day, and I was like I'm done with scratch-offs for a while and my kids egged me on to buy more, and just so happened there was a guy standing up there, and my son said lets buy the same ones that he did, so we did! And we got the lucky ones and he didn't," Boot said
As Boot was scratching away, she thought she was seeing things.
"I kind of jumped up and was like, oh my gosh, this is not right, it's not right, the tickets are wrong! I looked at the ticket again. I called the waitress over. I was like I need you to read this and she was like, you just won a million dollars, and I was like no way," she said.
She really won that much on a $20 scratch-off game called $1,000,000 Winnings.
Boot does everything for her kids, who are 9, 11, and 13. All they asked her for was a new house and their own bedrooms.
"I'm going to invest a lot of it, just get my kids the house that they want so that they all can have their rooms and stuff," she said.
Boot also wanted to do something special for her sister.
"She actually walked into the Pittsburgh office to file a claim and our staff there said she was so excited; she came with her sister. She told our staff that she wanted to share the money with her sister but her sister said she's so deserving that she wouldn't accept it," said Ewa Swope, Pennsylvania Lottery press secretary.
Boot's sister wouldn't accept any cash but she did ask for one thing.
"My sister Laura, its her birthday today and I can finally buy her mini donkey that she wants," Boot said.
The sports bar will get a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
"We're glad that our business was able to help her with this life-changing event, and we hope nothing but good luck for her and her family," said Theresa Bashada, co-owner of Foster House II.
"It does truly take one ticket to win because she plays very occasionally," said Swope.
Boot doesn't plan to quit her job. She just hopes the unexpected jackpot will give her kids a better future.
"I am going to continue to work, I'm going to put a lot of it away, and I like my job a little too much,h I guess," said Boot.
The PA Lottery is the only state lottery to direct proceeds to programs that benefit senior citizens in the state.
Lottery officials also wanted to remind everyone that March is problem gambling awareness month. There are free and confidential resources available, including the helpline 1-800-GAMBLER.
