Jerrit Elmer stuck to the family tradition of purchasing a ticket at the East Idaho State Fair’s lottery trailer since a child, and after all those years his routine finally paid off with $200,000 in winnings over the weekend, Inside Edition happily reported.
Elmer would visit the fair with his grandparents, who often stopped by the Idaho Lottery event trailer, according to the Idaho Lottery, and when he was older every time he was at the fair he continued the tradition by visiting the trailer and playing the Idaho Lottery Scratch tickets.
This year when he visited the fair with his wife, Shanelle Elmer, and their 10 children, Elmer was eager to buy his ticket, and it ended up being the $200,000 winner.
“His expression was priceless. I got chills,” said Gabby Reeves, the Wooh Crew Supervisor, who checked the ticket.
For years, Elmer said “you can’t win if you don’t have a ticket,” and now his family takes those words seriously.
“This win is coming at a perfect time for us,” said Shanelle Elmer, who explained that they planned to use the money to upgrade their home in Pocatello.
Idaho has seen unique circumstances surrounding its recent spate of lottery winners.
Michael Tran won $2,000,300 earlier this year after playing the same numbers regularly for the last 18 years, the Idaho Lottery noted.
Katie McAuley from Kuna won $100,000 when she purchased a $5 ticket on a whim when paying for other items at a checkout counter.
“I only buy tickets every once in a while and I haven’t been very lucky until now,” she said in a statement.
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