ATLANTA – One lucky man is jumping for joy since purchasing a winning Georgia Lottery instant ticket worth $50,000 in Cedartown. Jay Lovell of Ashville, Ala., played the popular instant game Jumbo Bucks Classic to win his top prize.
“I’m shocked,” he said. “I went for a Powerball ticket but was compelled to buy this ticket.”
Smart Mart, 502 Adamson Road in Cedartown, sold the winning ticket.
Lovell, 61, claimed his prize May 9 at the Georgia Lottery’s District Office in Dalton.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he shared. “I looked at the ticket several times to make sure that it’s real.”
With his windfall, Lovell anticipates paying off his home mortgage and purchasing a new vehicle.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $17.4 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.7 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.4 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.