Lottery winner "knew" good karma was headed his way

By Kate Northrop

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Two months after he returned a lost lottery ticket worth $500 to its rightful owner, a South Carolina man won a $586,000 Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot.

A South Carolina man "knew" he was going to be rewarded at some point down the road after he found and returned a $500 winning lottery ticket.

The Grand Strand resident's suspicions were confirmed when he found himself claiming a $586,000 Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot at South Carolina Lottery offices last week.

The anonymous player was at the Murphy gas station located in front of the Walmart on Dorsett Drive in Myrtle Beach when he noticed a Pick 3 ticket on the floor. He picked it up — it was a winner for $500.

He asked the store manager to tell him if anyone came back in looking for the ticket, and when someone eventually returned asking around for it, he handed it to them.

"The owner was so grateful to get the ticket back that I knew I was going to hit the lottery after that," the winner told the Lottery. "I just knew it."

His prediction was correct when on April 25, the Palmetto Cash 5 ticket he purchased at the same store had won that evening's $586,000 jackpot with winning numbers 6, 7, 12, 33, and 35.

The odds of matching all five numbers in Palmetto Cash 5 are 1 in 850,668.

"I've been lucky in life and can use this prize to help some people," he said in a press release. "And maybe my story will encourage others to do the right thing."

The Walmart Fuel Kiosk in Myrtle Beach received a $5,860 commission for selling the winning ticket.

Palmetto Cash 5 is an in-state daily draw game that features a starting jackpot of $100,000 that increases by a minimum of $10,000 every time a drawing goes without a winner.

The Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot currently stands at $100,000 for the next drawing on Wednesday, May 20. Drawings take place every day at 6:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The cutoff time for the drawing occurs daily at 6:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2.

All Palmetto Cash 5 winning numbers, prizes, and odds are published on Lottery Post's South Carolina Lottery Results page right after each drawing.