CLEVELAND (WJW) — An Ohio woman just hit the lottery in an unexpected way.
Vennetta S., who has lived in Cleveland for 30 years, found out she won $1 million in an automatic winner email from Jackpocket, a third-party app where you can order official state lottery tickets.
She ordered $6 in Powerball tickets on June 8 that won her the record-winning amount.
“When I opened the big winner email, I thought, ‘Something isn’t right. Does that say a million dollars? I’m not believing that this is real,'” said Vennetta, recalling how she was expecting just a $12 or $18 win. “We don’t gamble, period, so (my husband) was like, ‘That might be fake.’ I said, ‘I’ve gotten payouts before on Jackpocket! I think I hit it. I think this is real!'”
Vennetta downloaded the app on her phone in October and has been playing the lottery occasionally.
“I don’t play the lottery, but somebody was telling me that you can play on your phone. So I downloaded Jackpocket and played a dollar here and a dollar there, usually on Lucky for Life,” she said, recalling how she purchased her winning ticket. “I didn’t even know what the jackpot was! I just thought, ‘I’m just going to put $6 down on Powerball and let it go.'”
Vennetta plans to now pay off her house in Cleveland then open a new transportation business and maybe relax a little bit, too.
“Now, I can breathe,” she said.
Jackpocket operates in Ohio in partnership with Circle K. Lottery players can use Jackpocket’s mobile app to place ticket orders for Mega Millions, Powerball, Lucky for Life, Classic Lotto, Rolling Cash 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, and Pick 5.
You can download the app on iOS or Android and follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.