Lotto player thought she won $3 in Iowa, but zeros kept coming. ‘Can do so many things’

Amber Finger was scratching an Iowa lottery ticket at her kitchen table when she realized she was going to win a prize.

“When I saw I matched the number, I was like, ‘Oh, I probably won $3,’” she told lottery officials. “Then I scratched and there was a 3, but then there were some zeros after it!”

She had actually won $30,000 playing the Lightning Cash scratch game, according to a news release from the Iowa Lottery. That’s the game’s top prize.

“I had to check it quite a few times before I was like, ‘This is real life, and I can do so many things right now!’” Finger told lottery officials when claiming her prize on Monday, March 20.

The 32-year-old woman from Cedar Rapids, who works for a mental health clinic, said she didn’t seek out that specific lottery ticket while at a Kwik Star convenience store.

“I just kind of go with whatever pops out to me at the moment,” she said in the release. “When I was looking at the little glass window of tickets, it just kind of stood out above the rest.”

She plans to use her winnings to buy tires for her car and pay for her upcoming Jamaican vacation.